


For The Kids

by Miki_Mecheta



Series: As We Grow [1]
Category: Rise of the Guardians (2012)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Human, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Gen, Gen or Pre-Slash, Hurt Jack, Pre-Slash, pitch is crazy, protective aster
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-11-19
Updated: 2013-11-29
Packaged: 2018-01-02 01:15:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 33
Words: 72,337
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1050778
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Miki_Mecheta/pseuds/Miki_Mecheta
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When four friends are forced to ask the school loner, Jack Frost, to help them with this year's Christmas benefit none of them think he's going to agree, but he does. Things are about to get interesting and they're going to discover that there's more to Jack than meets the eye.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome! The following story is loosely based off of the events of Dreamwork's Rise of the Guardians, but can be read even if you haven't seen the film. Have fun spotting the parallels if you have! Just as a heads up, the characters of the Toothfairy and the Easter Bunny will be going by different names in this story to make it feel more "real" because who in their right mind would name a human child Tooth or Bunny? Tooth will be going by Ana Romoli and Bunnymundy will be going by his middle name, Aster, and the last name Wilder. Now that that's out of the way, please read and enjoy! (Comments and Kudos are much loved by the way)

"Jack Frost?" Aster stared at Mr. Moon with growing disbelief as he tried to make sense of the teacher's strange demand.

The older man merely nodded, watching in silent amusement as his four favorite students tried to process his decree. Aster was clearly not happy. The seventeen year old had the same annoyed expression he adopted whenever Mr. Moon assigned an essay, but the others seemed to actually be considering the idea, if only for his sake.

Ana and Nicholas were exchanging a series of thoughtful looks, shrugs, and slight nods with the group's smallest member, Sandy, who seemed to the most willing to accept the idea.

After another minute of waiting, Mr. Moon decided to be the one to break the silence. "Yes. I want you to invite him to help and I'm not approving your request until you do."

Aster clenched his fists, his tan face turning crimson in rage. "What? We don't need that bloody showoff's help!"

Mr. Moon crossed his arms and leaned back in his leather chair, treating the Australian teenager to an icy-calm gaze. "This is not a suggestion, Aster. If you four want me to approve your proposal, then you're going to have to ask Mr. Frost for his help."

"After what he did last year? I had to repaint an entire backdrop in a single night!"

Mr. Moon's face remained calm. "The past is the past. We are talking about this year at the moment, Mr. Wilder."

Aster opened his mouth to argue, but Nick stepped forward and placed a large arm around his friend's shoulder before the unhappy teen could start ranting. He wasn't wild about the idea, either, but if this was what it took… "Why not? Jack Frost may be a troublemaker, but I don't think he's a terrible person. He did apologize for last year, after all."

Ana nodded in agreement, a glimmer of interest clear in her violet eyes. "Yeah, besides, it’s for the kids, Aster! Just think about how much fun it’ll be for them."

Sandy didn't say a word, but he was nodding as well.

The Australian let out a low growl, hardly believing how quickly the others were accepting this. "I  _am_  thinking of the kids! In fact, I seem to be the only one who is! What does Jack Frost know about making kids happy?"

The words  _"A lot more than you think he does"_ passed through Mr. Moon's mind, but he didn't say them aloud. Instead, he clapped his hands, regaining the bickering group's attention. "Enough. I will ask Mr. Frost to come by my office at lunchtime tomorrow and I will expect at least one of you to be here to make the offer. I'd prefer it to be all of you, of course, but I'm not going to be that demanding. If not, your children's fair will just have to remain a dream and you can think of another idea for this year's benefit. Understood?"

The others looked at Aster, waiting to see what he'd say. Finally, the tall boy sighed and threw his hands into the air. "Fine! We can ask Jack to help! Just don’t blame me when this whole thing goes south."

 

* * *

Jack sighed happily, closing his eyes and leaning back against the pale gray boulder he'd chosen for his resting spot. The afternoon sun filtered through leaves that were just starting to change from summer green to the gold and red of autumn, painting the white haired boy and his surroundings in an ever-changing tapestry of light and shadows. He could stay like this forever.

"Hello, Frost."

Or not.

Jack didn't even bother to look at the source of the voice; he already knew who it was.

"What do you want this time, Pitch?"

"Want? Why, Jack! Can't two old friends just happen to meet in a secluded woodland clearing and talk?"

Now Jack did look at the other boy. Pitch stood in the shade of a tall oak, his pale arms crossed across his black shirt, smirking. Jack's eyes narrowed. "After what happened last Christmas, we're not friends anymore,  _Pitch_. Now, tell me what you want or get out of here."

"I just want to have a little fun, that's all. An opportunity to mess with our favorite group of "try-hards" has arisen and I've decided to give you a chance to redeem yourself."

Jack groaned and closed his eyes once more. "Not again, Pitch. Can't you just give up on this already?"

The smirk vanished and Pitch's face contorted into a mask of hatred. "No, and I don't get how you can just give up after one failure. A failure that you caused, I might add."

The pale-haired boy shrugged. "You went too far, I don't regret stopping you. Also, believe it or not, I'd rather avoid having that much detention ever again."  _Or the guilty conscience._

Pitch remained silent and, for a moment, Jack thought the other boy had given up, but then he heard the crunch of leaves and a shadow blocked out the warm light that had been playing across his face. Jack opened his eyes and met Pitch's fierce amber eyes with his own defiant, frosty blue ones.

"I'm not helping you. I don't care what those showoffs are doing 'for the good of the world' this time. Let them waste their time with projects and deadlines – what does it matter?"

The fire in Pitch's eyes only grew at these words. "That's exactly it, though. They're going to do something sweet and wonderful again and everyone's going to sing their praises. Does it matter that I'm smarter and more accomplished than the lot of them? No. I'm going to have to hear about how wonderful those idiots are for weeks! If we do something now – stop this next project before it even gets started – then we can avoid all that."

Jack rolled his eyes. "Just don't listen to what everyone else is saying for once. It's not as hard to do as you think it is. Trust me."

Pitch made a sound of exasperation and turned around, stalking away from the lazy teen while calling back over his shoulder, "Just think about it, Jack. Help me and I'll make it worth your while."

Jack ignored his former friend’s calls as he let his eyes sink shut, happy to have his sunlight back, and dozed off.

 

* * *

"Aster, wait for a minute, please!" Ana ran after the angry teen as he stalked down the street towards their neighborhood. She was more than a little annoyed with how upset her friend was over this. Honestly, it wasn't like Jack would even accept their invitation. He'd been in the same class as them since freshman year and she'd yet to see him do something that involved extra work. Jack's approach to life seemed to revolve around goofing off as much as possible and doing as little work as he could manage.

Aster's pace slowed enough that she could catch up, but only just so. When she reached his side, Ana took his hand in hers, pulling him to a stop and making him turn to look at her. She smiled up at him, ignoring the anger in his spring-green eyes. "Come on, this will all be over tomorrow. What are the chances Jack will actually help?"

The tall boy's frustration seemed to melt away at these words and his scowl briefly changed to a look of surprise before deep, relieved laughter started to pour from his lips.

Ana had to hold back a knowing smirk at the sight. Of course Aster hadn’t even thought about the fact that Jack would say no. “Didn’t think about that, did ya?”

Aster shook his head, still chuckling lightly as the two friends started towards home once more. "No, I didn’t, and you’re absolutely right. Jack's never going to say yes!"

 

* * *

Jack had said yes, but only because what else could you say when your case worker asked to see you at lunch? He had no idea what Mr. Moon wanted to see him for, though, and Jack could feel fear twisting his stomach into knots as the clock on the wall ticked its way towards noon. Being called to Mr. Moon’s office rarely meant something good in his experience and he was racking his brains to try and figure out what he’d done that called for a meeting. It wasn’t like he’d had time to get onto his teacher’s bad sides – it was only the third day of school!

With a clang that somehow sounded a lot more ominous than usual, the bell rang, sending a shiver down Jack’s spine and breaking him from his silent musings. As the ringing died away, he let out a sigh of resignation, got up from his desk, and headed out of the classroom door, ready to face his fate.

He didn’t even bother to look where he was going as he walked towards Mr. Moon’s office, instead choosing to stare at the floor and let people move around him. Maybe he'd done something last year that had only just been noticed? He didn't think that was it – mostly because he couldn’t think of a prank that had failed to go off – but you never knew.

As he turned the corner that lead to Mr. Moon's office, he could feel his heart beginning to race and he readied himself for the worst, but then he looked up and stopped in his tracks. Aster and his gang were standing outside of the office door, waiting. Jack absentmindedly wondered if they were still mad about last year, but only Aster had seemed to still be holding a grudge last time he checked. Adopting a mischievous smirk and pushing away his fears, Jack called out to them, "Sorry, guys, you'll have to come back later. Mr. Moon wanted to see me about something."

Aster grimaced. "We know."

This was new. "Oh, he already told you to come back later?"

Nick shook his head and smiled at the smaller teen. "No, we're the reason you're here."

Now Jack was really worried and he automatically brought his hands up to shield his face as he began to nervously apologize for what felt like the thousandth time. "Listen, if this is about the play last year, I'm sorry. I didn't mean for things to go that far."

All four of the others winced at the memory of the previous year's near disaster ans Ana spoke now, her voice a little strained. "No, this isn't about  _that_. Come on, we'll talk inside."

She opened the door and the teens filed in with a reluctant Jack bringing up the rear. Inside the office, Mr. Moon was munching on a sandwich while reading a book. He looked up at the sound of the door opening and smiled at the quintet of students entering his office. "Ah, I see you’ve all arrived at once. Excellent!"

While the other teens had moved into the room, Jack remained leaning against the doorframe, still grinning, but clearly ready to bolt as soon as he got the chance. Mr. Moon didn’t seem to mind, though, and gave the loner a bright, welcoming smile. "Jack, the others know why I've called you all here, but I'm afraid I didn't get to tell you this morning."

Jack shrugged, giving off the vibe that he didn't really care why he was there. "It’s okay, but I'm a little curious what you need that involves both me and Crocodile Dundee over there."

Spring-green eyes narrowed as Aster avoided the sudden urge to call Jack something nasty, but Mr. Moon moved the conversation along before the mounting argument could begin. "Why don't I let your classmates explain their request?"

Jack felt a wave of relief wash over him at these words. He wasn't in trouble. That was good. The “try hards” probably just wanted to ask him to volunteer some time for their Christmas thing this year to make up for last year’s fiasco, though why they were doing it in September was beyond him. "Sure, why not?"

"Very well. Nicholas, I believe this was your idea. Why don't you explain it to Jack?"

The brown haired boy nodded, treating Jack to a massive grin before spreading his arms wide. "We wanted to ask for your help planning this year's Christmas event."

Sandy and Ana grinned at him, waving their hands in a jazzy fashion as if to say "ta-da," while Aster simply rolled his eyes and leaned back against the window pane. It was clear this was not a unanimously-agreed-upon offer.

Jack gaped at the group for a moment before treating Mr. Moon to a disbelieving look. "What?"

"As you well know, Nicholas, Ana, Aster, and Sandy organize a yearly event to raise money for the less fortunate around Christmas and they'd like your help planning this year’s philanthropic event."

Jack’s blue eyes widened in surprise for a moment before his expression hardened into a glare. Was this Mr. Moon’s idea of a joke? "Why would I want to do something like that? Waste my time planning some lame benefit so that a bunch of random adults will tell me how sweet I am and my college applications look a bit more impressive? No thanks, that's not for me!"

As if suddenly realizing the nature of his statement, Jack looked back at the other teens and smiled sheepishly. "No offense."

Aster's face was once again a mask of rage. "How the bloody hell is that NOT offensive?"

Mr. Moon stepped in before a fight broke out, drawing their attention with a loud cough. "Jack, you haven't even heard what they're planning for this year’s event."

"Why in the world does it…"

"They're throwing a children's fair for the children in Burgess."

Jack froze midsentence and stared at Mr. Moon for a long moment; as if not quite sure he’d heard him right. Then he took a shaky breath and whispered, "Burgess? Why not here?"

Ana spoke up now, curious why the mention of that town had affected Jack so badly. "Because Burgess has a community center and Narvon doesn’t, plus Burgess has a lot of underprivileged families so we’d be able to use the event as both a fund raiser and as an event to help underprivileged kids!"

Aster nodded, already considering the matter closed. "Yeah, don't worry though, you don't have to 'waste your time' helping."

"I'll do it." Jack was staring at the floor, but they all heard what he said loud and clear.

The other four teens exchanged looks of surprise as Mr. Moon beamed at the nervously fidgeting teen. "I knew you would."


	2. Chapter 2

Aster stared at Jack, trying to understand what had just happened. This was _not_ how it was supposed to go. He wasn't supposed to say yes!

The object of his attention looked up from the ground, noticed the looks of shock, and smirked. "You heard me. I'll do it."

Aster's expression hardened. This was not happening. No way in hell was this brat ruining another Christmas. "This isn't a joke, Frost."

Jack stepped back, exaggeratedly placing a hand over his heart, and adopted a wounded expression. "A joke? Why, Aster, I'm merely accepting  _your_  gracious offer."

As Aster’s face began to grow red with rage, Sandy nudged Nick and gave him a look that clearly said “you’d better stop this fight now before Aster looses it.”

Nick nodded, stepped between the two feuding males, and picked Jack up off the floor, wrapping the smaller teen’s scrawny frame in a massive hug while he cried, "Then welcome to the team!"

Ana clapped, stepping in front of Aster to further defuse the tension as she added, "We're going to have so much fun, Jack!"

Sandy merely grinned at their newest member and nodded in agreement.

Jack grinned nervously back, feeling more than a little uncomfortable with all the positive attention and even more uncomfortable with the pressure currently constricting his airways. Since he couldn’t do much about the attention, he decided to address the issue he could take care of, "Um, you can put me down now, North.”

Nick complied with the request, but not before telling Jack that anyone who was part of the gang was welcome to call him by his first name.

Jack glanced around the group in confusion. “Part of the gang?”

“Well duh,” Ana replied, taking his hand in hers and tilting her head to the side as she treated him to her most welcoming smile. “If you’re helping plan the fair, then you’re part of the gang!”

Jack’s grin didn’t quite reach his eyes as he asked, “So, when do we start?"

Aster's frown deepened. Frost was seriously joining them and his friends were letting it happen! He tried to cut into the conversation, but Mr. Moon started speaking before he got a chance. If Aster didn’t know better, he would have sworn the teacher cut him off on purpose.

"As soon as you’d like to, Jack. I’ve read through the proposal Ana wrote up and approved it. I had some free time yesterday evening so I gave Dr. Reiner a call. As long as you can get approval to use the community center, you're free to begin organizing the event." The teacher pulled open the top drawer of his desk and took out a photocopied sheet of paper, handing it to the startled blonde as he said, "By the way, excellent work as always, Ana."

Nick let out a whoop of joy and threw his arm around Ana’s shoulder, leaning over to read the paper in her hands. "Then let's get started this weekend! We can all go over to Ana's place after school tomorrow for a brainstorming session."

Ana smiled and folded the paper into a neat square before tossing it into the front pocket of her messenger bag. "That should be fine with my folks. They're used to it by now. Does that work for you, Jack?"

The group's newest member nodded. "I'll have to double check, but that should be fine."

" _Great_ ," Aster drew the word out, making the sarcasm in his tone abundantly clear, but Jack ignored him for once.

"It's a date then!" Ana agreed, also ignoring Aster, and darted out of the room with a cry of, "Come on guys, we've got only half an hour left for lunch."

The other boys followed after her. Unsurprisingly, Aster refused to even look at Jack as he exited the office, but Sandy gave the white haired teen a happy little wave as he passed and Nick treated him to an excited wink.

Once they'd left, Jack turned and faced Mr. Moon. Gone were the cocky smirk and cool attitude. In their place stood an awkwardly-shuffling young man, a shy smile lighting his entire face in a happy glow. If Aster had seen him then, he would have known there was nothing to worry about, especially if he’d heard the way Jack whispered, "Thank you."

Mr. Moon nodded, his eyes twinkling. "Jack, I know you've got your own agenda in this, but at least try to make friends with them. You might be surprised how much you like the gang."

Jack looked at the door where the four had just exited and shrugged. The cockiness was back. "Well, I make no promises, but I'll try."

* * *

"He's up to something!"

Ana rolled her eyes at her pacing friend and continued eating her lunch as Aster stalked back and forth in front of the grassy spot where the other three were sitting. When she realized that he wasn’t sitting down any time soon, though, Ana said, "Aster, stop worrying and eat! You saw his reaction. I don't think Jack's plotting anything."

"That cutesy shy thing? All an act! You'll see, Ana, he's going to be nothing but a pain in our backside for the next three months." Aster accented this statement with waving hands and a raised voice, drawing several curious glances from other students.

Nick swallowed the bite of the sugar cookie he'd been munching on and sighed. "Come on, Aster. Even if he is up to something, there's nothing we can do about it. He's accepted the position. Jack Frost is on the winter benefit committee and we're just going to have to deal with it."

"I know, but we need to start planning damage control for when he inevitably tries to _ruin_ the event."

Sandy frowned at his friend and crossed his arms, making Aster flinched with the intensity of his gaze and let out a whine of, "Oh, come on, Sandy, not you too!"

None of them had noticed Pitch stiffen at the picnic table behind them when Aster first mentioned Jack and they were too busy arguing to sense that something was wrong when the black-haired boy stood up, meal unfinished, and stocked out of the lunch area. He needed to have a few words with a certain snowy-haired prankster.

* * *

Jack was sitting in his favorite spot on the school grounds, the foot of a tree at the edge of the building, reading a book. He always went here when he had some free time and Pitch was well aware of this. The spot was surprisingly secluded and the two boys had often spent the lunch period there back when they were friends.

When Pitch arrived and saw Jack, he let out a low snarl, stalked over, and snatched the book from the other boy's hands, throwing it on the ground by his feet. "And what _exactly_ do you think you're doing?"

Jack raised an eyebrow and smirked. "Well, I was reading."

"Shut it, Frost. You know  _exactly_  what I meant. You're helping those idiots with their stupid Christmas benefit! You said you didn't care what they did, not that you were _joining the ranks_!" Pitch was shaking with rage as he waited for Jack to explain himself.

Instead, Jack retrieved the book from the ground, brushed the dirt off the cover, and resumed reading. He really didn't feel like fighting with his old partner in crime. Pitch reached down to snatch the book away again, but Jack adeptly moved it out of the path of the taller boy's hand as he said, "Go away, Pitch."

"Not until I get an answer!"

Jack sighed and looked up at the seething teen. "They asked; I said yes. End of story. Bye now!"

"End of story? Since when did you care about helping with stuff like that?"

Jack closed the book, pursing his lips as he tried to decide what to say. If anyone would understand why he was doing this, it was Pitch. With a sigh, he explained, "They're not doing a benefit play this year."

"Then what is the wonder team doing that could possibly tempt Jack Frost?"

Jack began to nervously fiddle with the book in his hands. He'd known this was coming, but he hadn't expected the confrontation so soon. Maybe if he told Pitch, though, the other teen would stay out of it and let Jack have this one thing, so he whispered the words, "They're doing a children's fair in Burgess."

Pitch stared at the teen sitting on the ground before him for a few seconds before breaking out into hysterical laughter. "Oh, this  _is_  rich. Do they know?"

Jack glared up at his former best friend. "Of course not! They're not going to, either."

Pitch was still laughing, but he managed to choke out, "Yeah, sure."

Jack's alabaster skin was slowly heating up, turning an attractive shade of scarlet, but he wasn't sure if it was due to rage or embarrassment. "They won't! It's not like I'm gonna get all chummy with those losers! I'm just going to make sure the fair is incredible."

" _You're_  going to make it incredible?” Pitch asked, his laughter fading into a cruel smile. “Come on, Jack! You do nothing but make messes and cause chaos. It's why I like you."

Jack was on his feet now, frosty eyes flashing.

Pitch just grinned. The rage was gone, replaced with cold amusement. "What? Are you going to deny it? Name one productive thing you've done in the seven years since I met you."

The fire drained out of Jack and he leaned back against his tree, wrapping his arms tightly across his chest. He looked so fragile, so close to broken. It was a state only Pitch had ever seen him in and the ebony haired teen couldn’t help but grin at the sight.  _Perfect_.

"Don't you get it, Pitch?" Jack whispered, not even able to look the other teen in the eyes. "This is my one chance to do something for them."

"And how do you plan to do that? Just because Jack Frost suddenly wants to be the golden boy doesn't mean he can erase years of being a meddlesome thorn." Pitch moved to Jack's side as he spoke, casually draping an arm across the smaller teen’s slumped shoulders. His tone sounded almost comforting when he continued. "Listen, you go ahead and try. You try with all your heart! When this all comes crashing down and you're left standing amidst a pile of ruin, I'll be there to welcome you back where you belong: here, by my side."

Jack didn't even look at Pitch as the other boy gave him a mocking side hug and turned away. It was only when he was sure that Pitch was gone that he sunk to the ground and buried his face in his knees. Pitch was wrong. He was going to make this work. He had to.


	3. Chapter 3

"Ready for festival planning awesomeness!" Ana asked as she bobbed happily before Jack, clasping her hands together behind her back in excitement. It was the final period of the day on Friday, the only class Jack had with this bubbly girl, and she'd spent the entire fifty minutes shooting him excited grins from across the room. Then, the second class had ended, she'd rushed to his side, earning a lot of bemused looks from their classmates.

Jack laughed, amused at her antics in spite of himself. "I think so."

"I know so! Oh, Jack, you have no idea how happy I am that you're joining us! It's just been the four of us for years and now we're getting a new member. You're like an early Christmas present!" She beamed at him warmly and he was startled to realize he actually believed her. Even with of everything he’d done, she still wanted to be his friend. He wasn’t sure if he admired her for that or considered her a fool.

Pushing these dark thoughts aside, Jack adopted an amused smirk and got up from his seat. "Well, lead the way."

Ana nodded in agreement and started to make her way across the classroom with Jack silently following close behind. It was only once they’d reached the hallway and set off to wherever they were meeting the others that Jack thought to ask, “Where are we headed, anyway?”

"The parking lot. Aster and I normally walk home, but Nick drives every day, so we're all going to ride to my house in the sleigh."

Jack paused midstride, unsure if he’d heard his violet eyed guide correctly. "The sleigh?"

Ana glanced over her shoulder and gave him a wink before zooming off down the hallway with a cry of, "Come on! You'll see soon enough."

Jack obeyed, but followed at a distance, allowing Ana to rush ahead of him. He wasn’t sure if he wanted people to know that he was hanging out with the gang just yet and, with her clothing’s vivid color scheme, it was easy to keep track of Ana in a crowd.

When she reached the door to the parking lot, though, she stopped and waited patiently for him to catch up. Jack would never admit it out loud, but he was glad that she’d waited. It was a lot easier to leave the building and make his way towards the waiting members of the group with Ana by his side. It made him feel a little less like an intruder.

As they got closer to the others, who were waiting inside of “the sleigh,” Jack immediately understood how Nick’s car had gotten its nickname. It was an enormous, cherry red jeep Cherokee that had a tiny, white frost pattern decorating its sides, a hood ornament in the shape of a Christmas tree, and a Christmas wreath tied to the front grill. Even the license plate was Christmassy! It’s black letters read "MRYXMAS" and someone had installed a pine tree boarder around the edges. The car wasn’t a total shock, since Jack had seen it around town once or twice, but he’d never taken the time to actually look at it before.

As Jack cautiously approached the car he could hear music playing – Christmas music. It was the first week of September. It was too much. Jack stopped walking and just stared at the jeep, trying to understand how in the world anyone could like Christmas so much! Ana stopped walking too, her eyes shining in amusement at Jack’s confusion.

They were still standing there when Nick threw the driver's door open and stepped out of the jeep, the upbeat chords of 'Winter Wonderland' drifting out of the car after him. "There you are! We were starting to wonder if something had happed."

"Sorry – class ran a little late, but we're here now! Right, Jack?" Ana called back, grinning at her companion.

Jack didn't say a word, still working on processing the creature that was Nick's car. Finally, he spoke. "You do know that Christmas is, like, four months away, right?"

Nick laughed, a deep booming sound that made the large boy's whole body shake. "Christmas is more than just a one-day thing, my friend. It's a state of mind!"

Aster, who was sitting in the passenger's seat, rolled his eyes and called out the window. "It's just another overly-commercialized holiday, mate. If you want something that has stayed pure and untainted, then just wait until spring."

Nick shook his head and grinned at Jack. "Ignore Aster. He's just upset that  _my_  Christmas benefits are always a much bigger hit than  _his_  annual Easter egg hunt."

Jack smirked, hiding his nerves behind a friendly jab at the Australian. "Don't worry, I'm pretty good at ignoring Aster."

"I heard that!"

Ana laughed and pulled open the Jeep's door, hopping into the back with Sandy as she called, "Come on, guys, we’ve got work to do! Stop acting like little kids and get in the car."

Nick obeyed and popped back into the driver's seat while Jack cautiously got into the back with Ana and Sandy. Much to his surprise, the car's seats were incredibly comfy and a pleasant smell of pine mixed with a hint peppermint filled his nose. As he took in the interior of the strange vehicle, Jack felt a grin slowly creeping onto his face. Sure, the car was weird, but it was a good weird.

Nick, who had watched the transformation take place in his rearview mirror, couldn’t help but grin over at a scowling Aster. "See? Everyone loves the sleigh."

* * *

Ana's house was an old Victorian-style manor that, in spite of its age, had clearly been well cared for. The walls were a mixture of vibrant shades of pink and purple that reminded Jack of some sort of princess’ castle while it its roof was the warm yellow of a summer afternoon. Jack’s attention was torn from the examining house when Nick parked in the driveway and Aster stumbled out of the car, looking a little green around the gills.

“Are you okay, Aster?” Jack asked worriedly, unused to seeing the stoic Australian look so weak.

Aster simply nodded as Ana explained, “He always seems to get motion sickness when Nick drives, but he’ll be fine in a minute. We normally just head inside and he joins us after the queasy feeling’s gone.”

Her explanation finished, Ana motioned for Jack to exit the car so she could get out. He complied and soon the gang was heading up the walkway to the front door. When they reached the door, Ana reached out to open it, but then she stopped as a thought occurred to her. She looked over at Jack and smiled as said, “Just ignore them,” then she opened the door.

Waiting inside was a flock of five, eager looking, miniature Anas.

"Okay, okay! Back off, ladies!" Ana cried as she cleared a path into the house, herding the little girls out of the way. The other members of the gang barely seemed to notice the little girls as they made their way into the house and started to take off their shoes, but Jack was transfixed. Ana noticed this and shrugged, giving him a 'what can you do' look. "Both of my aunts live nearby so my cousins are  _constantly_  over here playing with my baby sister. I guess my family has some pretty strong genes, huh?"

Jack blinked, still taking in the group of clones. "Which one's your sister?"

Ana bent down and plucked the tiniest of the girls from the group. The child was wearing a shimmering green princess dress, the same color as Ana's top. "This is Baby. Her real name's Anita, but it sounds so much like mine we just started calling her Baby Ana or Baby."

The little girl giggled and gave Ana a hug before shyly waving at Jack.

"Baby, this is Jack. He's going to be helping us with our Christmas project this year so you can't bother him, understood?"

The little girl pouted, but nodded in agreement with her sister’s decree. Ana then trained her gaze on the other members of the flock. "That goes for the rest of you too, okay ladies?"

The miniature Anas looked crestfallen, but nodded as Ana set Baby back on the ground and made a shooing motion.

"Wait!" All eyes turned to Jack. He'd thrown his hands up in a gesture of surrender and couldn’t seem to take his eyes off the little girls. "I don't mind if they wanna bother me. They can bother me as much as they want!"

Ana looked at him in bewilderment, clearly taken aback at his strange behavior. "But, what about the project?"

"No, no." Aster was smirking now. "If Jack wants to play with those of equal mental capacity to his own, then who are we to stop him?"

They waited for Jack to take the bait, but he seemed to accept the jab in good humor as Baby and the others grabbed onto his hands and dragged him down the hallway to their play room, more than willing to take him up on the offer.

Ana looked after them uncertainly before turning back to address the gang. "But he's supposed to be helping us plan the fair?"

Aster started up the stairs to Ana's room, their normal meeting place, as he declared, "We've never needed his help before, so what do we care if he hangs out with the minis?"

The other teens accepted this was resignation and followed Aster up the stairs. It figured Jack would bow out as soon as he was confronted with real work.

* * *

"Ana, your new friend is absolutely wonderful with children! I've never seen the girls so well behaved." Ana's mother had followed them upstairs about fifteen minutes later with a plate of snacks, positively singing Jack's praises.

"What do you mean, mom?" Ana asked, looking up from her laptop and into the warm, violet eyes of her mother.

"Well, you'll just have to come and see!"

The four teen's exchanged confused stares and followed the short blonde woman back downstairs to the playroom.

Inside, Jack was crouched low to the ground, his eyes wide in terror, as he whispered, "The dragon came ever closer to my hiding space. I could feel the heat radiating off of its boiling flesh."

Five pairs of violet eyes were transfixed on him, listening in rapture as he spun the tale.

"With a wild bellow, the beast rushed past me and into the night. The way was now open for my escape, but Princess Anita was still trapped inside and I'd promised the fairies that I would save her."

Even Aster found himself smiling as they stood in the doorway, watching the girls listen as Jack rushed around the room playing the part of the brave hero. Every child had a character in the story and, when that character appeared, he'd pull them into the game until their job was done. The only noises that escaped the girls who weren't currently taking part in the tale were giggles and gasps.

Ana's mother grinned at the scene and looked over at her daughter. "You know, when you told me you were adding another member to your little group for this year's event, I was curious what in the world he'd have to offer, but I get it now. He's exactly what you need to make sure this fair is fun!"

At this, Aster's scowl returned. "We don't need a goofy showoff to make our fair fun. I know how to show kids a good time without Jack Frost's help."

Ana’s mother smiled and gently laid a hand on Aster’s arm. “I’m sure you do, Aster, but a little extra help can certainly go a long way when you're dealing with kids."

Aster’s scowl deepened. "Look, Mrs. Romoli, Jack may be able to entertain five little girls, but he's still shirking his duties. He should be upstairs helping us brainstorm."

Mrs. Romoli’s hand flew to her mouth and she made a tiny noise of surprise. "Oh, Aster, I'm so sorry! When I saw the girls pull that boy down the hall with them I just assumed you kids weren't starting yet. I asked him to watch them for me while I made a phone call. I only just got off the phone and came back to this."

Mrs. Romoli’s loud exclamation had broken Jack out of playtime mode and brought him back to reality. He was now standing silently in the middle of the room, looking at the group of teens in the doorway as a crimson blush of embarrassment stole its way over his pale features.

Baby looked at her new friend and cocked her head to the side in confusion as she asked, "Why'd you stop telling the story?"

The question broke Jack out of his silent shell of awkwardness. With a smile, he crouched down to the tiny girl’s height and said, "Well, I'm afraid I've gotta go work on a project with Ana and her friends."

All of the children made sounds of despair and one of them cried, "But what happened to Princess Anita and Sir Frost?"

Jack looked at the asker and replied with a question of his own. "What do you think happened to them, Grace?"

The girl thought about it for a minute then said, "I think they got married and lived happily ever after."

Jack stroked his chin, considering the idea. " _Ever_  after?"

"Yes," Lea, the eldest of the five, answered with a decisive nodded. "Princesses always live happily ever after."

Jack looked a little lost now. "Like, forever after?"

"Yes!" All of the girls replied this time, giggling.

He fell back, leaning against the couch with wide eyes. "Wow! Well, if all five of you agree then that  _must_  be what happened, right?"

The girls stopped giggling and considered this proposal. Lea reached a decision first. "I guess it must be!"

The other girls nodded in agreement with their leader as Jack rose to his feet and said, "I guess there isn't much left to tell, then, is there?"

The flock of minis crowded around Jack and hugged the pale boy's legs to try and keep him from leaving, but he gently pried them off as he said, “Sorry, girls, I’ve got work to do.”

Then he strode across the room to the group of waiting teens as his cheeks began to turn pale pink with embarrassment once more. "Sorry, Ana, your mom asked me to watch them and I guess I got a little carried away. I hope I didn't miss too much."

She shook her head as she gave Jack a funny look, trying to understand how this trouble maker could charm her baby sister so easily. "No, we were just getting started."

Jack grinned. "Then what are we waiting for? Let's get to work!"


	4. Chapter 4

Sandy yawned before smiling sleepily at Jack, who returned the grin and said, "I hear ya, Sandy. I’m beat."

It had been hours since the brainstorming session begun and, while the whole gang had been involved at the beginning, they were now at the part of the planning process that only Ana could do. The aforementioned blonde was typing away on her laptop, looking up contact information and running theoretical costs through an Excel sheet as she decided which combination of the gang’s ideas would actually be feasible.

Jack had offered to help, but Ana had insisted that she had to do this on her own. She had a system and she did not need it messed up. Plus, did Jack happen to have a laptop to use? No? Then let her get back to work and be quiet while she did her job, which could loosely be described as the group's treasurer, secretary, contact person, mother-figure, and general holder of information. It was a lot of work, but Ana liked to stay busy.

The only other member of the group who was still working on faire plans was Aster. The Australian teen was leaning against Ana's bed, sketching out a rough plan for the fairgrounds and basic designs for the festival booths. Despite his external gruffness, Aster was an excellent artist and served as the head of layout and designs for any event the group held.

As Aster sketched and Ana typed, Nick sprawled out on the floor and worked on homework, comfortable in the knowledge that his skill set would be needed soon enough. It would be his job to construct the booths Aster was designing along with a plethora of other task that could only be done by someone with unlimited access to a car and the ability to bench press 200 pounds.

That just left Jack and Sandy, both of whom had managed to make it through the first week of school without homework. While Sandy was happy to sit quietly and daydream as his friends worked, knowing that his technical skills would be needed to run the sound system when fair day rolled around, Jack felt worthless and fidgety.

Everyone else had a place on the team, a reason for being there, but so far all Jack had been able to do was suggest that they have apple cider in addition to hot chocolate. And now, watching the others fall into their familiar roles, Jack couldn’t help but think that Pitch had a point. How could he possibly be of any use to the gang?

For all his worrying, Jack couldn’t fight Sandy’s infectious drowsiness and his pale lips opened wide in a yawn of their own just as Nick glanced up from his math. Within seconds, the burley teen was yawning too and, once he’d regained control of his mouth, he said, "I guess we're all getting pretty tired, huh?"

Ana continued to type away, not even taking the time to look up as she replied, "Not really. Which is good, because I've still got a lot to do before we can start to contact people and that really oughta be done as soon as possible. Next weekend at the latest by my estimate."

Nick shrugged and started to work on his calculus assignment again as Sandy began to doze off, leaving Jack feeling even more like an outcast who had no idea what to do. He’d thought about going back downstairs to play with the little girls, but decided he'd rather not give Aster anything to gripe about. He hadn't even dared to get out his book and read. Engrossing himself in a story around people who were little more than casual acquaintances just wasn’t a good idea, especially when you were pretty sure that one of them hated you, and it had made for very boring couple of hours. Well, he’d been here long enough. Even Aster couldn’t say that he’d abandon the group if he left now.

With that in mind, he rose to his feet an addressed the group. "Unless you need my help with something else, I think I should head home."

Now everyone stopped what they were doing and stared at Jack. The blue eyed boy stared back, hating the attention. "What?"

Nick let out another yawn and gave Jack an apologetic smile. "Sorry, Jack, I guess we forgot to tell you that we normally spend the night here after a brainstorming session."

Jack grinned nervously and started to inch his way towards the door. "Oh, that's all? It's no big deal. I mean, I didn't get permission for that or bring anything with me so I think I'll just head home."

Ana nodded, but looked troubled. "You sure about that, Jack? It's kind of a tradition and I’m sure Aster could let you borrow some of his things. He lives just down the street."

The Australian didn’t look too pleased with that idea, but Jack declined the offer with a quick statement of "Nah, I've never been one for traditions. I always tend to break them" before Aster could voice his opinion on that matter.

Relived that he wouldn’t have to share his clothing with Jack, Aster resumed working on his sketch after saying "That's unsurprising."

Jack just gave the artist a weak smile as his hand came to rest on the bedroom door and he said, "Well, I'll see you guys Monday, then. Or are we meeting up tomorrow, too?"

Ana began to shake her head when Nick spoke up. "Actually, I think we should take a trip to Burgess tomorrow. We already know we wanna have the fair at the rec center and, while I know we've all been there before, we've never actually used the indoor portion and don’t have a clue about its detentions. Plus, we need to fill out the forms to reserve it for the fair, too."

Sandy gave Nick a "thumbs up," and the others murmured their assent as Jack’s smile went from weak to forced, "Oh, right, yeah. How hard do you think it'll be to get to use it?"

Aster started erasing furiously, obviously displeased with something he'd just drawn, and replied, "It shouldn't be hard at all! They know us pretty well by now. Where do you think I throw my egg hunts?"

"Oh, good. So, what time should I be back here?"

"Don't worry about it, Jack. Just give me your address and we can pick you up when we're finally ready to go. Aster's a total grump in the morning, so it may take a while for us to get moving." Nick said as he threw the teen a note pad and pen, both of which Jack caught easily.

He scribbled down an address and tossed the note pad back before saying "Well, I guess I'll see you tomorrow."

Then Jack quickly left the room and made his way down the stairs, more than ready for a break from the gang. Just as he was finishing putting on his shoes by the front door, though, a woman's voice called out, "wait!"

Apparently Mrs. Romoli had heard him leaving and she had emerged from the kitchen to give him a tight hug. "Thank you for all your help today, Jack. You're more than welcome to play with the girls anytime you like!"

Jack hesitantly returned the hug and thanked her politely for the offer before stepping out into the night. The outside air was bitter cold and there was a hint of frost on the breeze, neither of which was uncommon for an early autumn night this far north, but Jack liked it that way. For some reason, he’d always found the chill of winter comforting and, as the artic wind whipped around him, he felt the tension draining from his body. So maybe he’d be nothing by manual labor, so what? The children’s fair would be awesome and that was all that mattered.

* * *

Jack's house was a tiny thing, an old-fashioned colonial relic made of stone that seemed to come right out of another era.

“So, who wants to get Jack?” asked Nick as he shifted the jeep into park and Aster jumped out of the car to give his shifting stomach the relief of fresh air.

“I’ll do it,” said Ana, exiting the car as she spoke, “and you can come with me, Aster.”

The Australian shrugged and followed after his friend as she walked up to the house and rang the doorbell.

A warm smiled graced the face of the pale-haired woman who answered the door. Her complexion was nearly identical to Jack's, though the similarities ended there. It was pretty clear that Jack didn’t take after his mother in looks. "Hello, you must be Jack's friends! Come on in! He's up in his room."

The two teens entered the house and Ana gave her a warm smile. "Thanks, Mrs. Frost."

The smile faltered as the woman hesitantly replied, "It's Overland, actually."

Ana immediately apologized. "Oh, I'm sorry; we didn't know you kept your maiden name. Jack didn't tell us."

"What? No, I took my husband's name." The smile was gone and her speech was halting, as if she didn't know what to say. The teens weren't sure what to say either and an awkward silence descended, only to be broken when a sharp intake of breath drew their attention to the bottom of the stairs.

Jack was standing there, wearing a pair of faded blue jeans and a midnight blue t-shirt with a ratty, deep-blue hoodie draped over his arms. As their attention focused on him, he treated them to his trademark smirk. "I heard the doorbell and figured it had to be you guys. I shoulda known there'd be trouble already."

Then he turned his gaze on Mrs. Overland. "I told you that we're just going to Burgess, right?"

She nodded. "Yes, Jack. Do you need any money?"

"Nah, I've got a twenty. I shouldn't need more than that."

Mrs. Overland was smiling again by the time she said, "Alright. Well, have fun!"

Jack nodded and practically shoved the others out of the house saying "Alright, it's already past noon. We should get going."

The three teens left the house and climbed into the jeep, sensing that the topic of the name difference was not to be addressed, and buckled up as Nick turned the keys in the ignition. The sleigh purred to life and the driver asked his passengers, "So, shall we listen to Nat King Cole or Mariah Carey?"

Ana called out "Mariah" in harmony with Aster's "Nat."

"Sorry, Ana, I'm shotgun and therefore have music rights," Aster said, grinning back at the girl and waving the white CD in his hand tauntingly.

Then Nick lurched out of the driveway. Aster's face paled and he dropped the CD, turning to face the road and tightly gripping his seat's arm rests as he growled, "You did that on purpose, Nick."

The driver looked into the rearview mirror and winked at the grinning Jack. "Now why would I possibly do that?"

Sandy let out a merry little chuckle and Ana started laughing as she said, "Okay, Aster, we can listen to your music choice."

Knowing that they’d be musicless if she didn’t take action, Ana leaned forward, grabbed the CD off the ground, and popped it in the CD changer as Jack settled back into his seat, enjoying the friendly banter. As the calming music of one of his favorite Christmas song filled the car, Jack let his eyes sink shut, allowing the song drowned out the other’s voices with the words " _Chestnuts roasting on an open fire. Jack Frost nipping at your nose…_ "

* * *

Jack leaned against the window as the others chatted away, watching as the familiar buildings of Burgess flew by. The main street was lined with tiny mom-and-pop shops that sported cutesy, old-fashioned names like 'Acorn Antiques.' He could see that it was a busy day. Families, couples, and groups of teenagers were wondering about, enjoying the sun. The crowds made Jack glanced down at the ragged hoodie draped over his legs. He'd have to put it on soon.

Suddenly, Nick made a sharp turn off the main road onto a well-traveled side street, causing Aster to let out a moan.

“Don’t worry Aster,” Ana said, “we’re almost there.”

They drove for a few more minutes, until they'd left the main body of the town for a more suburban area. Then, Ana called out, "There it is!"

The recreation center was a long, low, grey building surrounded by grassy sports fields, one of which was currently being used for a youth soccer game. Jack stared at the game nervously as Nick pulled into a spot in the parking lot and most of the gang jumped out, glad to be able to move around after the long drive. Only Jack took more than a few seconds to exit the sleigh.

When he did, Aster, who was just starting to no longer feel nauseous, took one look at the white haired youth and raised an eyebrow. "What's with the new look, Frost?"

In spite of the heat, Jack had thrown on his hoodie, pulling the hood up so that his hair was completely obscured. He shrugged as the other looked at him in confusion and said, "I like to avoid the stares."

Sandy tilted his head to the side and gave Jack a confused look, as if to say, "Why dye it then?"

Jack understood exactly what the look meant. After all, he'd heard the question many times over the years. "I don't dye it, I'm an albino. Well, partial albino. I was born without pigment in my hair and minimal amounts in my eyes and skin. It doesn't really bother me too much; it just makes for a fun conversation starter."

The teens began to move towards the building with Aster leading the way as Ana asked, "Oh, is your mom an albino, too?"

The question had been born of innocent curiosity, but Jack froze.

"My mom?" He whispered.

Ana nodded, noting his sudden rigidity. "Yeah, she's pale, too, and her hair’s pretty light."

Jack gulped, looked into inquisitive violet eyes, and forced his lips into a smirk. "No, my mom was… isn't an albino."

If Ana noticed the stutter, she didn't let on. Instead, she dipped her head in acknowledgment and zoomed off after Aster and Nick, who had already reached the building's doors.

Sandy, however, held back, walking by Jack's side.

Jack groaned. "Sandy, really I don't wanna talk about it."

Sandy didn't say a word, but he gave Jack a sad smile that clearly said, "I'm here if you ever change your mind."

"Okay, maybe I'll tell you one of these days,” Jack conceded, making Sandy’s smile brighten.

"Come on, slowpokes!" Aster yelled at the dawdling pair, causing Sandy to purse his lips and grab Jack's hand, pulling the taller boy across the grounds and towards the building.

Jack jumped at the sudden contact, not used to being touched, but raced to keep up. Since when could Sandy move this fast?

Aster was laughing now. "Don't let his size fool you, Sandy's quite the athlete. Years of running after us have really paid off."

Having arrived at the building, the diminutive teen let go of Jack and flexed, making all of them laugh.

"Okay, Sandman, I won't go picking any fights with you."

Sandy considered the new nickname and decided he liked it, beaming at Jack to show his approval as Nick opened the building's burgundy doors and said, "Come on, let's go see if Mr. Kaufman's here. We still need talk with him about reserving the building for the fair."

* * *

Mr. Kaufman, the head of the rec center, was an elderly gentleman in his early seventies and he was sitting in his office when the gang knocked on the door. He looked up from his computer to see who was there and his whole face lit up. He loved when the teens came to visit. Then his eyes fell on Jack, who was in the very back, hiding.

A flash of surprised recognition crossed Mr. Kaufman's face and he opened his mouth to say something, but Jack shook his head, a pleading look in his eyes. Mr. Kaufman closed his mouth and schooled his expression into a pleasant smile as turned his attention to the others, none of whom had noticed the exchange, which had taken all of three seconds. "It's so nice to see you kids, but isn't it a bit early to be planning an Easter egg hunt?"

Nick slapped Aster on the back, almost knocking him over. "For once, we're not here for the sake of Aster's event, but mine!"

Mr. Kaufman raised an eyebrow, his sea-green eyes gleaming with interest as he asked, "So, what are you plotting this time?"

Ana took over, explaining their plans for the fair, and Mr. Kaufman listened, nodding. When she finished, the gentleman said, "Well, I don't see why not. That sounds like a wonderful idea. Do you know when you want to have this little event?"

"Saturday the fifteenth," Jack replied for the group, making the others look at him in surprise. They hadn't really discussed a date, but that seemed as good as any, so no one denied his claim.

Since they were all looking at Jack, they missed the sadness in Mr. Kaufman’s eyes when he said, "That sounds like a perfect date, young man. After all, you don't want to hold this thing the weekend before Christmas, do you? I think most people will be too busy by then."

The man pulled up a calendar on his ancient desktop and checked the date. "It looks like the fifteenth is free, too. You can have the whole building, if you'd like. I'll have to charge you if you want to use the ice rink, though."

"I don't think that'll fit in the budget, but we'll take everything else!" Ana declared. "Do you happen to have a blueprint we could take with us?"

Mr. Kaufman nodded. "I do, actually. Just let me go and make a photocopy."

He stood up from the desk, grabbed a binder off the shelf, and began to head out the door, but stopped when he got to Jack. "You know, you have yet to introduce me to your new friend."

Nick made an apologetic noise and said, "Oh, sorry! Where are our manners? Mr. Kaufman, this is Jack Frost."

Mr. Kaufman nodded, still watching Jack as the hoodie-clad teen squirmed under his gaze. "Jack, why don't you come with me while I make these copies? The others have been in the building before, but you still need a tour."

Jack gave the man a nervous smile as he said, "Sure, that sounds like fun."

"Excellent. You four can wait here. We shouldn't be too long."

The others shrugged, exchanging puzzled glances as their newest member followed Mr. Kaufman out the door and down the hall.

* * *

Jack was sitting on an old wooden table, swinging his legs and staring at the ground as Mr. Kaufman began to photocopy a few sheets from the binder. Neither had spoken on the way here and the silence was getting thicker by the second. Finally, Mr. Kaufman broke it with the words, "Jack, it's good to see you."

The teen grinned, the awkwardness evaporating in the warmth of his smile. "You, too. It's been ages!"

"Indeed it has. Do you still ice skate?"

Jack shook his head, looking a little sad. "No. I haven't put on a pair of skates since… well, I haven't skated in a long time."

Mr. Kaufman opened the machine and lined up a new page as he replied, "You should. You're a very graceful individual, Jack."

The teen blushed and said, "I don’t know about that, but I'd love to try it again. The only problem is that there's no ice skating rink in Narvon."

"A pity." Mr. Kaufman took the photocopies from the machine and handed them to Jack while saying, "Well, that's all of it. Now, on a serious note, is there a reason I'm acting like I don't know you?"

Jack shrugged. "I'd just rather not have these guys know all about me, that's all."

The elderly man sighed and laid a hand on Jack’s shoulder before saying, "Jackson, they're good kids. You could do a lot worse than trusting those four."

Jack shrugged of Mr. Kauffmann’s hand and he hopped off the table before darted into the hallway as he reassured the man with a quick, "Don't worry, I already promised Mr. Moon I'd give them a shot."

"Ah, Manfred. I had forgotten that he's their advisor for these little events. I take it he's still the high school's social worker?"

Jack nodded, babbling on about Mr. Moon and how awesome a teacher he was as they made their way back to Mr. Kaufman's office and the waiting gang.

* * *

The teens arrived back in their hometown of Narvon just as dusk was setting in. After leaving the rec center, they'd gone to a local diner for lunch and then just wandered around town for a bit. Jack had seemed oddly on edge during the excursion, keeping the hood of his hoodie drawn over his hair, but no one had given him so much as a second glance.

The major triumph of the day, as far as Ana was concerned, was the change in Jack’s comfort level with the gang. Spending the whole day together seemed to bring the group’s newest member out of his shell and, on the ride back, he’d even joined in the conversation once or twice instead of simply sitting quietly in his seat like he'd done on the way there. He’d even taken the time to thank Nick for the ride and a promise to see them all on Monday when Nick dropped him off at home.

As the sleigh pulled out of the driveway, Ana watched the albino head into his house with a smile on her face. Maybe she’d even be able to convince Jack to leave the hoodie behind the next time they went into Burgess.


	5. Chapter 5

Jack woke up just after 6:00 on Sunday morning, the time when the sky outside his window was just beginning to turn the pale grey of predawn. Instead of getting out of bed, though, he merely sighed and stared up at the ceiling, waiting for the sunlight to begin to creepy across the white plaster and herald the start of a new day.

At 6:45 he finally got out of bed and silently made his way to the bathroom. The Overlands wouldn't be up for at least another hour, so he tried his best to be quiet as he turned on the water and stripped out of his pajamas before ducking under the cool spray.

As the water cascaded over his alabaster skin, Jack thought about the weekend's events. It had been so strange to actually talk to someone from the past, to wander around and be a part of Burgess instead of an invisible specter in a blue hoodie. He'd known joining the others in their little committee would mean talking with people in the town, but he hadn't realized how much it would make him miss…

No, this wasn't worth thinking about. Jack hurriedly shut off the water and grabbed a towel, ignoring the fact that he hadn't actually washed anything.

* * *

As Jack approached the school on Monday morning, he could see the whole gang standing beside the sleigh. Ana and Nick were chatting away as Sandy listened in and Aster was leaning against the vehicle, looking like he was only half awake. Jack frowned at the sight. He still wasn’t too comfortable with the idea of being part of the gang yet and he’d been hoping to avoid them until the end of the day. Maybe if he was really careful, he’d be able to get into the school without them noticing him.

"Good morning, Jack!" Ana cried, halting her conversation with Nick and waving at the approaching albino.

Jack sighed and waved back, plastering a fake smile on his face as he walked over to join the group with a halfhearted, “Morning, Ana.”

Ana smiled back, oblivious to Jack’s discomfort. "Wasn't this weekend fun?"

"Yeah, we're still meeting after school to start calling businesses about donations, right?"

"That’s the plan," she replied with a wink.

"Alright, then, see you after school," Jack said as he started to head towards the building, but Nick's strong hand grabbed his backpack and pulled him back to the group.

"Hey, you're one of us now. That means that you're stuck hanging out with us until it’s time to go to class. It’s one tradition we're going to make you keep!"

Jack was surprised to find that, instead of experiencing a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach at being forced to stay, he actually felt happy that they wanted him here. As he took a spot beside Sandy and as Ana began to chatter away at him, he realized that maybe being a part of the gang wasn’t so bad.

* * *

The week passed in a blur of classes, homework, and phone calls. Every day, the group would meet up after school and go to Ana's house where they'd all sit in her room, calling the numbers she gave them as she wrote letters to the companies that needed a more formal touch. The only issue so far had been Jack’s lack of a cell phone. That had been an interesting conversation:

"You don't have a cell phone?"

"No?"

"Crikey, mate, it's the twenty-first century, not the seventeenth!"

“Oh Aster, let him be, he can use the landline.”

Then came Friday. When Jack arrived home from their daily phone call meeting, he called out his usual greeting of “I’m home!” and headed towards the kitchen where he knew Ms. Overland would be working on dinner.

He was right. True to form, Ms. Overland was hard at work cutting up potatoes, a stable of the Overland diet. She looked up from her task as he entered the room and treated him to a soft smile. "Welcome home, in the mood for potatoes and ham?"

"Always! Need any help?"

She nodded and motioned towards a pile of vegetables sitting on the counter. "Well, I haven't diced the onions yet."

"I'm on it!" Jack replied as he gave her a mock salute and went over to the sink to wash his hands.

"Oh, Jack,” she said, make Jack stop mid-task, “before you start, a letter came for you."

"Where is it?"

She motioned towards the dining room and returned to chopping as she said, “On the table.”

Jack walked into the adjoining room where a bright, white envelope sat waiting on the familiar wooden surface. Once he saw the return address, he eagerly ripped the letter open and pulled out a carefully folded piece of paper with a neatly written message inscribed upon it. After Jack had read it, he called into the kitchen, "Jamie's team is gonna be in the playoffs in two weeks."

Mrs. Overland stopped chopping at the news, but didn't look at Jack when she said, "That's wonderful! Where are they being held?"

"Burgess, as usual."

She nodded, still refusing to look at Jack. "Do you need one of us to drive you?"

"No, I'll take the bus," Jack replied as he set the letter back down on the table and returned to the kitchen. After he’d washed his hands, he grabbed an unchopped onion off of the counter and silently got to work.

* * *

The following Monday morning found the gang crowded around Nick's car, as usual, plotting what to do the following weekend.

"Well, the weekend after this we're going to go and pick out trees from the tree farm, so why don't we spend this weekend going through the storage room and seeing what all decorations we still have in there?"

Ana's proposal was immediately accepted by all save Jack, who had stopped listening after the tree farm comment. "Wait, what's this about a tree farm? Isn't it a little early to go and pick out trees?"

Ana giggled lightly and explained, "Sorry, Jack, I keep forgetting that you're not used to this. We always go out to the local tree farm the third weekend in September and pick out what trees we'd like to use for that year's Christmas benefit event. They're trees – it's not like they're going to get much bigger by December!

“But why do it so early?” Jack reiterated, still confused by the date.

“So that we all have a say in which ones we use! Once we get to the crunch period it’s hard to find a good chunk of time where we’re all free!"

"Crunch period?" Jack asked as the increasingly familiar feeling that he was an outside started to worm its way into his mind.

"The last few weeks before the benefit,” explained Nick. “Things can get pretty hectic!"

"Oh, well, I’m busy the Saturday after next, but that’s alright. It’s not like you need me to help pick out a couple of trees,” Jack said, hoping that the others wouldn’t ask too many questions about why he’d be missing the event.

At first, it seemed like the matter would be dropped with a few exclamations of regret, but then Aster joined the discussion. "And what exactly has the great Jack Frost so busy that he can't go?"

"I've got a…" Jack paused, searching for the right words, "…family event."

"You sure about that, mate? Because you certainly don't  _sound_  sure about it."

"Aster, leave him alone, he's been doing a great job so far," Ana scolded, before giving Jack an apologetic smile. "That's fine; it's just tree shopping. You're free this weekend, though, right?"

"Of course!" Jack said with a smile, relieved that the subject had been dropped.

Aster smirked, making a chill run up Jack’s spine. “Are you sure you wanna let him into storage room? I mean, after what he did last year, I’m not sure we should let him go messing around in there.”

“Aster!” cried Ana, glaring at the Australian as Jack’s smile disappeared and his gaze fell to the ground.

For a moment, all was silent, then Jack looked up. His eyes were unusually cold as he said, “Right, well, I’m gonna head in to class, now.”

This time, Nick didn’t stop him.

* * *

Aster winced as Ana slammed her lunch tray down on the table and glared at him saying, “Do you think you could you at least pretend to be civilized for once in your life?”

“I’d really hoped you’d be over this by now.”

Ana’s glare only intensified at the comment. “You were a jerk, Aster. What you said to Jack was totally out of line and then you ran off before any of us could give you a piece of our mind.”

Behind her, Nick and Sandy exchanged pointed looks, trying to decide if they should leave before they got dragged into this.

“Right guys?”

Realizing that it was too late to escape, Nick joined the conversation, “She’s right, Aster. Jack’s been nothing but helpful so far and I think the least we can do is try to make him feel welcome. What happened that has you so upset?”

Aster sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “Ya, he’s been fine, but there’s a difference between letting him call businesses and letting him into the storage room. There are things in there that we spent a lot of time and money making.”

Nick smiled and sat down next to his friend. “It’s not like we’re letting Jack run wild, we’re going to be there the whole time.”

Sandy nodded in agreement and Ana added, “We can even have a rule that no one can be in there by themself if that makes you feel better. After all, it’s fine that you’re worried about him, but you still shouldn’t have said that in front of Jack.”

“Alright,” Aster said, “I’ll apologize to frosty. Now would you sit down and eat? Lunch is gonna be over before I get to eat my dessert at this rate.”

As Ana and Sandy took their seats, Nick smiled and took a bite out of his sugar cookie before saying, “That’s why you start with dessert!”


	6. Chapter 6

The winter benefit was a traditional event that had been going on for roughly fifteen years. Every year since its inception, a group of high school students would use a pooled group of community and business donations to hold an event of their choice that would somehow benefit the community at large. This longevity had resulted in the benefit being awarded an official storage room inside of the high school’s gymnasium and it was here that the gang congregated on Saturday morning to sort through boxes of Christmas decorations, supplies, sheet music, and even costumes from the years when benefit had taken the form of a fundraising play.

They’d been working for some time and Nick had just headed off in the sleigh to pick up lunch when Ana made a discovery in a box off old costumes.

"Look – wings!" She cried as she pulled a pair of shimmering, gossamer wings out of a box.

Jack grinned in amusement as Ana carefully fastened the wings to her back and began to twirl around the room. "Those look more like fairy wings than angel wings. Just what kind of play did you guys put on?"

" _The_   _Nutcracker_ , silly. I was the sugar plum fairy," Ana replied as she stopped twirling and assumed a regal posed. The effect was somewhat diminished by the terrible lighting and messy backdrop, but Jack applauded nonetheless.

"Oy, Ana. Stop showin' off an’ get back to work. Jack doesn't need help being a load," called Aster as he carried yet another box out of the storage room and set it down on the floor of the gym.

Ana took the wings off and carefully laid them back in the box before rounding on Aster and saying, "I can take a five-second break to try on a pair of wings, Aster."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," the Australian replied, barely paying attention to his friend’s complaints as he looking through his box, which turned out to be full of old paints. "Looks like most of these are still in useable shape. Now we just have to pick a theme for the fair so I know if we’ll need other colors."

“I thought we had a theme: Christmas," Jack said as he grabbed a box off of the top of a pile at Ana's request and placed it on the floor for her to look through.

Aster stopped rummaging and fixed his gaze on Jack while Sandy rolled his eyes and gave Jack a look that clearly said, " _Now_ you've done it."

"Christmas is the theme, huh? So, does that mean traditional Christian imagery or modern commercial ones? Or are we taking the winter wonderland approach? If we do that, then we need to pick between comical snowmen and enchanting frost imagery. Or are we doing some sort of old-fashioned Victorian Christmas with winter village imagery? Hmm?"

Jack stared at the other teenager, doing his best to bite back an amused smile and keep a serious tone in his voice when he said, "I didn't realize how many options there were."

"No one ever does!” cried Aster, too caught up in his rant to notice the amused looks on the other’s faces. “And you know what? The day of the fair will come and _no one_ will mention how much they like the theme choice because, to them, it will be the _obvious_ choice! Meanwhile I'll have spent _weeks_ designing and painting so that it all looks just right. Bloody ingrates."

As Aster continued to rant, Jack gave Ana and Sandy a pleading glance, but the duo was too busy laughing to be of any help. Besides, they'd had to deal with these rants before and they weren't about to get involved in another one.

The artist didn’t stop ranting until Nick arrived with the food and, by then, Jack had firmly resolved to never say another word about themes ever again.

Once lunch was done, the gang returned to the task at hand and, by the day’s end, they’d accumulated a sizeable pile of paints and decorations that could be used to help bring the fairgrounds to life. This had come at a price, though, and everyone was dead on their feet by the time they finished loading everything into Nick’s car. With tired waves, they parted ways and went to their respective homes where they all quickly fell into bed and soared off to dreamland.

* * *

Over the next week, Ana received letters and phone calls confirming offers of funds and other donations, which she happily reported to the group daily. The day that she got a call about a donation from the lumber yard, Aster and Nick borrowed a truck from Mr. St. North, Nick’s father, and picked up the entire donation. Now that they had a good supply of wood, Nick could start building the booths for the fair and that meant that Aster really needed to pick a theme.

He finally did so on Friday: “winter wonderland, enchanted frost style, and no, don’t think it’s some sort of tribute to you joining up, Frost. We just have a lot of blue and white paint to use.”

Jack had smiled at the jibe, but everyone could tell that he knew Aster didn’t want him there. In spite of the clear hostility between the two, Jack still hung out with the group every morning and even offered to help pick up the lumber, though he wasn’t able to go due to available truck having only two seats.

The only thing Jack didn’t do was offer any form of explanation as to what “family event” was keeping him from joining the gang on their tree hunt that weekend and only Aster paid attention to that little fact.

* * *

Aster stalked up the cobblestone path that lead to the door of Jack's house. Family event – yeah, right. He bet Jack just didn't want to waste the day stomping around that ruddy tree farm. Not that Aster could blame him for the sentiment, but that didn't mean the prankster could just skip out. If Aster had to go, Jack was coming too.

It was this though process that had made the Australian decide to walk over to Jack’s, just to check and see how true the albino’s excuse was, and the chilly walk hadn’t done a thing to improve his temper. By the time he knocked on the front door, Aster was ready for a good, old fashion shouting match with the lazy load and, when Mrs. Overland answered his knocks, he knew he was going to get it.

"Hello, Aster, how can I help you?"

Aster grinned, barely able to contain his glee as he asked for Jack. He couldn’t wait to drag the albino back with him and show the others that he’d been right all along.

Instead of calling out for her son, though, Mrs. Overland simply looked surprised at the request. “Didn’t Jack tell you kids he was going to be out of town today?"

"No, he didn't" Aster said as his excitement faded. Maybe Jack had only told them a half lie. "Where is he?"

Mrs. Overland looked unsure how to respond, an emotion that often seemed to engulf the woman when asked about something concerning Jack. "Well, he's… oh, dear."

"Honey, who's at the door?"

When Mrs. Overland failed to reply, a tall man, who looked nothing like Jack, entered the hallway and came to stand by her side, looking between the pair in confusion as he did so.

Seeing the look on his face, Mrs. Overland forced her lips into a quivering smile and said, "Dear, this is Aster, one of Jack's new friends. He's wants to know, well, he wants to know where Jack is."

Mr. Overland sighed and reached a hand up to rub his eyes as if fighting off a headache. "Of course he does.”

Then he let his hand fall to his side and turned to face Aster. “Son, why don't you come inside and sit down? This is gonna take a while."


	7. Chapter 7

_"You're a mean one, Mr. Grinch. You really are an eeee…"_ Nick snapped open his phone, cutting off the song mid-note. "Hey Aster! What’s up?"

"Nick, can you do me a favor and come over to the Overland's house."

Nick pulled the phone away from his ear and glanced at the time. "But we're supposed to be leaving to go tree shopping in less than an hour."

"Listen mate, just do it."

There was something in Aster's voice that made Nick stop arguing. "Okay, sure. Do I need to bring the others?"

"Yeah,” Aster said, somehow sounding even more serious than usual, “I think you do."

* * *

Ana, Nick, and Sandy arrived at the Overland's home a little less than a half hour later, wondering what in the world was so important that Aster was making them late for their tree hunting expedition. As soon as the sleigh's engine turned off, the door to the tiny home opened, revealing a grim faced Aster.

Seeing the look on her friend’s face, Ana jumped out of the car and ran to his side, suddenly very worried. "Aster, what’s wrong? Is Jack hurt?"

The caramel hair youth shook his head. "No, he's fine, but he is the reason we're all here. I… I, I thought… that is to say… Come on, just follow me."

The trio exchanged bewildered glances as they followed Aster into the house and through a short hallway to a colonial-style living room where Mrs. Overland waiting. The fragile looking woman was sitting on a periwinkle couch, leaning against the chest of a dark-haired man who had to be her husband. Both adults gave the teens tired smiles and Mr. Overland motioned the chairs along the far wall as he said, "Hello, kids. Please, sit down."

The gang complied wordlessly, somehow sensing the seriousness of this meeting and realizing it would be best to wait for an explanation before speaking. Nick and Aster took the armchairs while Sandy and Ana plopped down on the floor, then all four teens turned their attention to the Overland’s.

"I've asked your friend Aster to call you kids here today for a very important discussion," Mr. Overland began. "We've already told Aster a bit of the story, but I think you all need to hear this. What is about to be said can  _never_  leave this room and you are  _never_  to mention it to Jack."

The three newly arrived teens nodded as their eyes brightened with curiosity, too interested in what Mr. Overland had to say to notice how miserable Aster looked.

"I'm sure you've realized there's a slight difference between our last name and Jack's by now."

This too was met with nodding from all since Ana and Aster had informed Nick and Sandy of the name issue so that they’d be able to avoid making the same mistake Ana had.

Mr. Overland took a deep breath and continued, "Well, that’s because Jack is not our son. He's our foster child."

Ana and Sandy's eyes widened while Nick's face became a mask of confusion before he asked, "Why did we need to know that?"

Aster closed his eyes and brought a hand up to cover his face. He knew what was coming next.

"Because you're throwing a children's fair in Burgess."

The adults remained silent for a moment as they looked at one another, wordlessly debating how to best explain the significance of this to the group. Then Mrs. Overland had an idea.

She rose from her seat and went over to a large bookshelf that occupied the space by the door. From the top of the shelf, she pulled an old, baby blue photo album and handed it to Nick. The brunet opened the book and began to look through it as the other teens crowded around so that they could see, too.

The first page held a photo of a smiling couple dressed in wedding attire. The woman had shining brown eyes and flowing auburn hair. Though the color was different, those eyes were clearly Jack's. The man by her side was tall and lanky with messy milk-chocolate hair and forest-green eyes. He looked like Jack's older brother.

After staring at the page for a long moment, the teens looked up from the album and turned inquisitive gazes on the Overlands.

Seeing that the duo still didn’t know where to start, Ana asked, "Are these Jack's parents?"

Mrs. Overland nodded and rested a clenched fist on her heart as she said, "Yes, Emma and Nathaniel Frost. Go on, turn the page."

Nick followed her instructions. The next photo showed the same couple standing by a sign that read "Welcome to Burgess" in shiny, gold lettering.

It was Nick who commented on the photo this time. "Oh, Jack grew up in Burgess? That explains why he was acting so strange. Well, don't worry, Mrs. Overland, we'll be sensitive about the issue."

He went to close the book, but Aster stopped him by gently laying a hand on his friend’s and shaking his head. The Australian teen's expression was pained as he said, "That's not it, mate."

Nick raised an eyebrow and turned the page again. In this one, Emma was standing in front of a house with a "sold" sign in her hands. On the page beside it was an image of Emma standing by a doctor's office, clearly very pregnant. Another turn of the page and the group was staring into the frosty-blue eyes of baby Jack.

The newborn was dressed in snow-white pajamas and lying in a wooden crib, gazing out at the world in wonder. The next page showed a chubby, white-haired toddler blowing out the candles on a cake while Emma held him. The group flipped through the album in silence, watching as baby Jack grew up into a child before their eyes. Then they reached the image that made Ana gasp.

Emma was standing by the window, facing sideways, with a young Jack resting his hand on her swollen belly. The child looked fascinated by the strange transformation his mother was undergoing and Emma was laughing with joy.

The teens looked at the Overlands once more, suddenly realizing why the story was so hard to tell.

When she realized that the Overlands couldn’t see what page they were on, Ana took a steadying breath and asked, "Jack had a sibling?"

Mrs. Overland shook her head and motioned for the teens to turn the page again. She knew what image they'd been looking at now and she knew what the next one would be, too.

In this image, Jack was looking down in awe at a bassinet containing two sleeping babies.

As the gang stared at the picture in a mixture of surprise and horror, Mr. Overland explained, "The Frosts had _three_ children: Jack and the twins, Pippa and Jamie."

The group took in this information silently and then Aster spoke, his voice sounding oddly thick as he said, "So we're holding a children's festival in the town where his siblings died."

"No," Mr. Overland answered. "As we said to you earlier, Aster, Jack lost his family in Burgess, but Jamie and Pippa are still alive."

The teens stayed silent, waiting for the Overlands to explain. Even Aster was confused now.

Mrs. Overland took a shaky breath, tears starting to roll down her cheeks, and began the story. "You _have_ to understand, it's hard enough to find a family that’s able to take in two children, but three? No chance. So the Bennetts took in Jamie and Pippa and we got Jack. We would have loved to take in all of them, but we just didn't have the room. No one did."

The Bennetts live in Burgess and, at first, one of us would take Jack there to visit each weekend. Every time we walked in that door and the twins saw Jack, they'd burst into tears. I had to watch as, week after week, that tore my foster son apart. It broke my heart, but there was nothing I could do."

Finally, one week we were sitting in the Bennett’s living room and Jack had an arm around each of them, holding them close as the cried into his chest. I..." Mrs. Overland let out a sob. "I don't know what triggered it, maybe she'd just reached her breaking point, but, but Mrs. Bennett snapped. I don't blame her, really. It was hard on _me_ seeing those two cry week after week and I wasn't the one taking care of them, but I'll never forget what she said to Jack. 'Why do you insist on coming back every week and doing this to them? They only cry like that when you're here!'"

She regretted it immediately, I could see that, but the damage was done. I watched in silence as Jack's heart finally shattered. And then he smiled. It was a smile I had never seen on his face before, but now I see it almost every day. He stood up and the twins stopped crying. They were just surprised, I guess, because Jack always held them until they stopped crying. It was the worst reaction they could have possibly had.”

I could tell by the look in Jack’s eyes as he gazed down at their tear streaked faces that he truly believed that he was to blame for their tears. I didn’t know what to say. I didn’t know what to do! None of us did, so none of us stopped him as he walked out the door and out of the twin’s lives forever."

Mrs. Overland was sobbing now, but she somehow managed to choke out the end of the story. “He waited outside until I came out. Mr. Bennett came with me and we, we stood there in silence for a while. Finally, Jack said, oh, he said, 'I'll stay out of their lives; just let me keep them in mine.'"

Mr. Overland held his sobbing wife close and took over, adding a final few details to the tale. "Ever since then we get letters or calls from the Bennetts every time something happens to Jamie or Pippa or whenever one of them has a big event coming up, but they've never invited Jack to visit and he's never asked. The twins don't even know they have a brother."

* * *

Jack watched, grinning, as his little brother scored another goal. The kid was incredible! On the sidelines, the Bennetts and Pippa called out loud cheers of, "Go Jamie!" and “Great Job!”

He came to every game he could, hiding in the back of the crowd and watching as his brother led the team to victory. It was bittersweet at first, but over the years Jack had come to love being here. Watching as Jamie laughed and played with his teammates and as Pippa giggled with her girlfriends, he knew that they were happy and that's all Jack had ever wanted for them.

Sometimes he had to fight back the urge to run onto the field and lift the little boy into the air when Jamie won the team a game, but it was a good feeling. A feeling of pride. He got the same feeling every time he came to watch Pippa sing.

In the end, Jamie's team won the game by a landslide and Jack beamed as Pippa ran onto the field and hugged her twin. "You were amazing, Jamie."

The brown haired boy hugged her back and said, "Thanks, sis."

Jack felt a familiar tightening in his throat, but he ignored it, too busy drinking in the sight of his family as the Bennetts joined their children on the field. Once he’d reached his son’s side, Mr. Bennett picked Jamie up, raising him into the air with a cry of, "THE CHAMPION."

Jamie's laughter flooded Jack's ears, drowning out the noise of the dissipating crowd. He knew it was time for him to go. Even though he had his hoodie up to hide the white hair, people would notice if a random teenager stuck around watching a couple of kids. So he took one last look at the joyful family, turned his back on the scene, and began the long, lonely walk to the bus station.


	8. Chapter 8

Ana had sunk back down to the floor sometime over the course of the story and was now crying. Sandy was by her side, an arm gently draped over her shoulders in silent comfort while a grim faced Nick stared at the Overlands, still trying to processing the overload of information. Unlike the others, who hadn’t bothered to hide their reactions, Aster had risen to his feet and was now staring at the window. He felt awful about how he’d treated Jack and the shame was written all over his face.

Seeing the teen’s obvious discomfort, Mr. Overland gently ran his hand along his sobbing wife's hair and continued. "Jack is like a son to us. We've been his guardians since he was ten years old and I would never break his trust unless I felt I had to. Maybe telling you kids all of this was wrong, but Jack's past is going to surround him every time you go into Burgess and I don't know what it'll do to him.

"It’s not like he avoids the town. He goes back there every time Jamie or Pippa has a performance of some kind, but he always hides his face. Jack doesn't want people from the past to see him because there are people in Burgess who undoubtedly remember Jack. The Frosts were incredibly active in the community and it's hard to forget such a distinctive-looking kid."

No one said anything. Now they understood why Jack had been so weird about letting people see his hair and why he hid his face. A lot of questions had suddenly found answers, but they weren't the kind the group of teens had expected.

Once Mrs. Overland's sobs quieted to sniffles, she wiped away the remaining tears and addressed the group again. "I know this is a lot to take in, but I don’t want you to think we’re upset with you for including Jack in your little committee. In fact, I want to thank you kids for inviting Jack to be a part of this. I don't know where you got the idea from, but I know he's overjoyed to be helping. He’s never had the chance to do anything for Jamie and Pippa before and now he finally can."

Aster glanced at the couple over his shoulder and smiled. "Don't worry, your secret's safe with us. We'll make sure this is the best fair those little ankle bitters have ever been to."

Ana jumped to her feet, knocking Sandy over in the process, and loudly exclaimed, "That's right! People are going to talk about December fifteenth for years to come!"

The whole room stared at Ana in shock, but the girl only smiled as her eyes glowed with determination. “Hey, there’s nothing like an objective to get me focused on something.”

Now Nick was smiling, too. “She’s right, you know. Ana thrives on being given missions.”

"Thank you," said Mr. Overland as he looked at the four teens. “I’m so glad Jack’s finally found a group of kids he can be proud to call his friends.”

Just then, a high-pitched ring filled the room and Mrs. Overland stood up. "That's the phone. It's probably Jack."

Without further ado, she rushed into the hallway and they could hear the muted sounds of a conversation begin once the ringing stopped.

"Where is Jack, anyway?" Nick asked, turning his gaze back to Mr. Overland.

"In Burgess. Jamie's got a big soccer game today."

Aster let out a burst of desperate laugher, drawing the whole room’s attention as he said, "I guess he wasn't lying– he did have a family event."

The others winced. While they hadn’t been as quick as Aster to call Jack out on his “lie,” none of them had truly believed that the prankster really had a family event to go to.

"I guess he wasn’t, but we should go either way,” Nick replied with a sighed and stood up. “We can't be here when Jack gets home and we're already late for our Christmas tree outing."

The others nodded in agreement and rose to their feet, bidding Mr. Overland subdued goodbyes as they left the room and headed towards the front door.

* * *

The tree picking, normally a happy event, had transformed into a somber occasion. None of the teens said much, instead wondering around the farm in silence until one of them saw a tree that seemed like a good choice. They even finished in record time since Aster and Nick didn't spend an hour arguing over which trees to choose.

Aster, normally the pickiest member of the gang, was for once the most subdued. The artistic teen barely even looked at the trees as he wondered around the lot and, when he paid enough attention to the others choices to offer an opinion on a tree, his communication was limited to nods and grunts. He was so lost in his own world that Nick had to tell him when it was time to go.

By that point, the others seemed to have cheered up quite a bit and the ride back to Narvon was a lot less quiet than the ride out. In spite of this, Aster remained in a state silent contemplation, not even voicing his displeasure with Nick’s driving. The only words he spoke were a grunted goodbye to the others as he got out of the sleigh when Nick pulled into his driveway.

The Wilder family lived in a brown, single-story, ranch-style house whose walls were covered in trailing vines. Flower beds and well-trimmed bushes lined the edges of the home, making it look more like a greenhouse than a house. Normally, the sight of his home was enough to make Aster smile, but not today. Today, he trudged along the stepping stones that led up to the front door, staring at the ground. He felt like the world's biggest idiot. How many times had he made fun of Jack and called the kid lazy? Probably a dozen in the past month alone! And those comments he’d made the past couple of weeks suddenly seemed more like outright attacks instead of statements of annoyance. He knew it was a little silly, but Aster felt like he owed Jack more than an apology for the way he’d treated him and he thought he knew just what to do, as long as his folks agreed.

As he debated the best way to ask, he opened the door and called out, "I'm home."

Immediately, the sounds of tiny feet reached his ears and a giggling little girl with messy blond hair came rushing to greet him.

Aster knelt down and took the little girl in his arms, holding onto her like a lifeline. He couldn't imagine what it would do to him if she forgot he existed. The child started to squirm, unused to being held so tightly by her big brother, and cried out the demand, "Let go of Sophie!"

Hearing the noise, Mrs. Wilder came to see what exactly her children were up to. One look at her son told her something was terribly wrong. "Aster, what happened?"

The teenaged looked at his mother, still holding the squirming two year old in his arms, and asked, "We still have room to add an extra phone on our family plan, right?"

* * *

Pitch was waiting for Jack when he got off the bus. Ever since the albino had failed him last year, Pitch had been waiting for the right moment strike and years of being Jack’s friend had taught the amber eyed teen one thing: Jack Frost was always at his weakest after seeing his family. A fact that Pitch was more than willing to exploit. He'd even started to monitor how Jamie's soccer team was doing online and, when he’d seen the announcement about the big game posted, Pitch knew his time had come.

It took all of Pitch’s acting skills not to grin when Jack stepped off the bus looking absolutely miserable, but he held it together. He was even able to make his voice sound completely sincere when he asked, "So, how are the kids?"

Jack jumped at the sound and tried to keep Pitch from seeing his red rimmed eyes, but failed miserably. Even if he had managed to hide his eyes, Pitch would have known he’d been crying from the slight hitch in the albino’s voice as he said, "Leave me alone, Pitch."

Pitch forced his face to crumple at the demand, smoothly adding a slight quiver to his voice when he said, "Jack… We've been friends for so long and, when I saw you getting off that bus, I couldn’t help but come over. You look terrible."

Jack eyed the other teen warily, "We aren’t friends anymore. Besides, you've never offered before."

"And I'm sorry for that. I never thought about how much it must hurt to see them, but never be seen. To constantly long to be part of a life you can only watch." Jack allowed Pitch to move closer as the dark words shot through him, taking root in his already fragile heart. "What I said to you the other day was uncalled for. I didn't realize just how important this fair really was."

Jack looked at Pitch, wanting to believe him, but then he thought of what had happened last year and took a step back. "You've never cared about me like this before."

This was the tricky part, the do-or-die moment. Pitch willed tears to come to his eyes and almost grinned when he felt wetness streaking down his face. "I never knew how bad it felt to lose someone you cared for before, but I get it now. It's like someone's taken away a piece of your heart and you'll never really be whole again."

Jack’s eyes widened when he saw the tears and Pitch could tell that the last of his target’s barriers had started to crumbled away when the albino asked, "And what's brought about this sudden understanding?"

 _Ah, and now for the grand finale._ Pitch looked at Jack longingly, his amber eyes full of pain and sorrow as he whispered, "What changed is that I lost my only friend."

Jack stood silently for a moment, taking in this confession, and then engulfed the taller teen in a hug as his heart’s defensive walls turned to rubble. "You haven't lost me; we just have to do things right this time."

Pitch hugged Jack back, grinning madly now that the other boy couldn't see his face. "Oh, I'll will, Jack. Trust me; I’ll make _sure_ things go right this time."

Jack drew away from the hug and smiled at Pitch, who’d adopted a look of hope, oblivious to his friend’s deception. “You don’t know how lonely it’s been without you.”

Pitch smiled back. “I’ve missed you, too, Jack. In fact, you’re all I’ve been thinking about for weeks now.”

* * *

Monday morning was cloudy and bitter cold. So cold that, when Jack arrived at school, he found the others sitting in the sleigh instead of gathered around it. As he approached, Ana threw open the door to the warm interior and motioned for Jack to hop in. Once he’d settled into his spot, one glance into the front seat left him grinning madly. "Afraid of a little cold weather, Aster?"

While the others were merely sporting some variety of jacket, Aster was wearing a thick, green winter coat, a scarf, and gloves. To Jack’s surprise, instead of starting an argument or telling him to bug off, the Australian merely grimaced and said, "It's freezing out there, mate. I don't see how the lot of you can stand it."

Jack laughed, more than a little pleased at Aster’s good natured response. "Are you kidding me? It's still too warm for my tastes! Just wait until it drops a couple more degrees and we finally get a good snowfall."

"Do you like snow, Jack?" Ana asked while glancing at Aster with and approving smile on her face.

"Yep, winter's my favorite season."

"Yeah, well, spring is mine," Aster replied. "When all that ruddy snow finally melts and we get to see the grass again."

Jack was about give his rebuttal when he noticed a tiny present wrapped in shinning blue paper sitting on Aster's lap. "Oooooh, what's this?"

He leaned forward and grabbed the present before Aster could stop him and began to exaggeratedly examine the gift. "Let's see, I wonder who the lucky person is. Is it for your secret crush, Aster?"

Aster grinned back at Jack, "Nah, it's for you."

Jack blinked in surprise and stared at the tiny, blue box in his hands. "Me?"

The others were smiling, too. They knew what was in the box.

"Just think of it as a welcome to the team thing," Aster added as Jack ran his pale fingers along the smooth paper.

"You know, gifts are meant to be opened," Ana commented, playfully nudging Jack's side when she realized that the albino was in shock.

The comment brought him back to reality and he began to unwrap the gift, careful not to tear the paper. Inside was a sky blue cell phone and a black power cable. Jack silently took the phone out of the box and flipped it open, almost unable to believe that this gift was really meant from him. When he saw the background, an image of a snow covered forest, he looked up at Aster and let his mouth drop open, but no words came out.

Aster shrugged, trying to keep the delight out of his voice when he said, "I figured you'd have a thing for winter and we really do need a way to get a hold of you."

Jack smiled and suddenly the gang understood what Mrs. Overland had meant when she'd said Jack's smile had changed. This smile wasn't the cocky, mischievous one that normally characterized the teen's face. No, this smile was soft and warm, full of joy and laughter. He was still smiling when he finally managed to stammer out the words, "Thank you."

Aster felt a flush beginning to steal across his cheeks as Jack focused all the warmth in that smile on him, but managed to keep from stuttering when he said, "Well what do you know? You do have some manners after all."

The smile vanished, replaced by a cocky smirk. "Only when I feel like using them."

The moment gone, Sandy began to show Jack how to use his new phone and Ana started to pick out ringtones for each of them while Nick and Aster argued about what music to listen to until it was time to go to class.

When the gang parted ways, though, Ana noted that Aster's face was still tinted a faint ruby red.


	9. Chapter 9

Lunch time on Thursday afternoon found Aster sitting alone and busily sketching away in a well-loved sketch pad as he waited for the others.

"Whatcha drawing?"

"Booth design," Aster replied, too engrossed in his work to look up at the new arrival.

"Sounds interesting. How's it going?"

"Hmm, pretty well, but I still have a lot more work to do. I wanna have the designs done by the time Nick’s ready to start working on them," Aster replied as he gave his pencil a little flick, adding a line to the page, before finally realizing who he was talking to. He raised his gaze from the paper and found himself looking into the curious blue eyes of Jack Frost. "Since when did you sit with us at lunch?"

Jack shrugged and sat down. "Well, Ana’s been asking me to do this for a while now and I figured it was about time I gave it a shot. I'll let you get back to your doodles, though. I don’t want you blaming me if they aren’t done on time."

With that, Jack pulled a book out of his backpack and started reading, absentmindedly taking a bite of his food every now and then. Aster knew he should really get back to work, but he was too busy staring at the sight in front of him. He had _never_ seen Jack read before and, if he’d had to guess what was on the albino’s reading list, he certainly wouldn’t have picked something as dense as  _The Silmarillion_ , especially since that meant it was a pleasure read, not something for class _._

It was too much and Aster couldn’t help but asked, "Since when do  _you_  read?"

Jack looked up from his book and took a second to process the comment before bursting out into a fit of laughter just as the rest of the gang arrived.

Ana and Sandy plopped down at the table by the laughing figure and gave Aster bemused looks as Nick took his usual place at Aster’s side.

By the time Jack had finished laughing, all three of the freshly arrived members were grinning and Aster's cheeks had turned bright red with embarrassment.

When he saw the looks on the other’s faces, Jack let out another short burst of laughter and then said, "Sorry guys, that was just too funny!"

"What was?" Ana asked, glancing between the tomato red Aster and the grinning albino.

"Aster's question!"

Seeing their blank looks, Jack finally remembered that they hadn't been there to actually hear the question. "Never mind. It probably wouldn't be funny to anyone else."

Sandy frowned and gave Jack a meaningful nudge while Ana made a noise of protest.

"You can't laugh like that for a full two minutes and then not tell us what was so funny," Nick complained.

Jack threw his hands up in surrender, but he was grinning. "Well, if you insist... Aster, ask the question again."

"What? No! I'm not going to have you laughing at me again!"

Jack rolled his eyes at the outburst. "I wasn't laughing at  _you_ ; I was laughing at the question!"

Aster scowled. "There's not that big a difference between the two."

"Yes, there is!"

"Could you two stop arguing and just tell us what the question was?" Ana interrupted, too curious to wait for the boys to stop bickering.

"Fine,” Aster said, realizing he was fighting a losing battle. “I asked Frostbite why he was reading."

"No, you didn't say it like that! You said," Jack paused to let out another snort of laughter and then continued, "You said 'Since when do  _you_  read?'"

The others exchanged puzzled glances as Jack wiped tears from his eyes, still grinning ear to ear. "I told you it was only funny to me."

Aster’s scowl deepened and his grip on his pencil tightened as he asked, "And what was so funny about it?"

"It was just the way you said it, that's all,” Jack explained with a shrug. “You made it sound like I couldn't possibly know how to read and it was just really funny. Especially since I read _all_ the time."

"I've never seen you read before," commented Ana as she glanced at the book in front of Jack and added, “And I would’ve noticed a book that thick.”

"That’s really not surprising. I tend to get lost in books so I don’t read unless I’m somewhere I feel safe," Jack explained. No one had a reply to that comment and, after the silence had remained unbroken for a minute or so, he flipped his book back open, losing himself once more in the history of Middle Earth.

When Jack did this, Nick looked like Christmas had come early while Ana and Sandy exchanged happy smiles. Even Aster seemed pleased as he began to sketch once more. If Jack felt comfortable around them, then that meant he was finally warming up to his place in the gang.

* * *

Pitch was waiting for Jack when school ended. Ever since their conversation at the bus stop, the two boys had begun walking home together after school on days when Jack didn't have committee duties. It was a nice change for Jack. He'd missed his best friend terribly ever since their fight last year. Before that fateful day the two had been inseparable, bonded by mutual despair, misery, and darkness.

"Are you sure you don't want me to introduce you to the gang?” Jack asked as the duo began their familiar trek. “They're actually really nice once you get to know them!"

Pitch shook his head. "They may have forgiven you for last year, but I don't think I'm back on the nice list just yet."

"Well, it's not like we ruined their little event. Aster was able to save the day."

Pitch nodded, smiling as he mentally cursed the moronic Australian. Aster was his least favorite of the idiots. The others were just bubbly do-gooders, but the six foot teen was the exact opposite. Between his signature bandanas, shoulder length brown hair, well-toned muscles, and rough temperament, Aster was the kind of person you'd expect to see in a street fight, not painting pretty pictures and helping people. For some reason, the discrepancy had always rubbed Pitch the wrong way and the ebony haired teen couldn’t help but think that it'd be almost as fun to break Aster as it was going to be to break Jack.

As usual, Pitch had kept his true emotions well hidden and Jack didn’t have a clue what was really running through his companion’s mind as he said, "I could see if they'd let you do something for the winter fair, if you'd like. We're going to need a lot of help manning booths and stuff."

"I think we should stick to working on our issues instead of trying to get me more friends for now, okay?"

Jack grinned and threw his arm across the taller boy's shoulders. "We have issues? Since when! I forgave you for last Christmas already, silly."

 _But I will never forgive you._ Pitch laughed, "Well, issues mostly means catching up at this point. I didn't see you all summer."

"Well then, let's get started!" With that, Jack began to tell Pitch about all the books he'd read over the break while Pitch tuned him out. He already knew how he was going to break Jack – all he had to do was build up the fool’s trust, finish up a few minor preparations, and wait.

* * *

Sometime in the early hours of Friday morning, a silent but steady snowfall had begun, covering the town in a thin blanket of white. Then snow was still coming down when Jack left for school and, by the time he arrived at the sleight, he was covered in bits of white fluff, the vast majority of which had come from stopping along the way to make snowballs and throw them at inviting targets. The albino hadn’t been kidding when he’d said winter was his favorite season.

As the others took in his snow covered appearance and treated him to amused looks he merely grinned and said, "First snow day of the season!"

"We're still in school, so it's not a snow day," Aster grumbled from the front seat. “Now get in and close the door! Some of us like the warmth, Frostbite.”

Jack complied with the request, but not before saying, “It snowed, so it's a snow day."

Ana looked out into the snow covered world and shivered. "I'll say it’s a snow day. I love living in Maine, but boy does winter come early! How can you stand just wearing that light jacket, Jack?"

Her comment drew the others attention back to the albino. Jack was wearing what he usually wore – blue jeans, a tee-shirt, and a light blue hoodie – so none of them had thought about how poorly suited to the weather his outfit was. For once, the attention didn’t seem to both Jack, who simply grinned and said, "I just like the cold, that's all."

Aster turned back to face the front and moved his hands closer to the car's heater. "Whatever you say, Frostbite."

Jack’s eyes narrowed at the nickname, which he was secretly coming to love. "You know, you always seem to give me nicknames. Does that mean I get to think up one for you?"

Aster's eyes widened and he turned to glare at Jack. "No."

"I promise it'll be a good one."

"I said no."

"You're no fun."

"I'm tons of fun!"

The others, used to the bickering by now, tuned the boys out and started talking about their plans for after school as Jack started testing out nicknames. Seconds later, they all jumped in their seats when Jack wrenched open the door and flew out of the Jeep, laughing. Aster quickly followed and began chasing after him with a wicked gleam in his eyes as Jack called out, "Oh come on, ‘Easter Bunny' is perfect!"

None of them noticed Pitch watching from the shadows of the building, his face clouded with rage, as Aster and Jack began a massive snowball fight that only ended when Ana reminded the duo that they needed to get to class.

* * *

After classes had ended, the five teens piled in the sleigh once more and headed out to Nick's house. It was time to start making the booths and, although Nick would be doing most of the woodwork, Aster insisted on supervising the creation of his "babies." In order to guarantee that work actually got done, the others had volunteered to tag along.

When they arrived, Jack found himself staring at the St. North's home in awe. Nick's house looked like it belonged in a fairy tale. It was a red, two story cottage with smoke pouring from the chimney and snow covering the roof. Some of the snow had melted during the day, only to refreeze into icicles that now hung from the gutters, sparkling in the rays of the setting sun.

When he entered the house, Jack found that the inside was even better. Even though it was the only the last week of September, holly berries and evergreen boughs decorated the house and the smell of baked goods wafted through the entryway, making Jack's mouth water. A large woman with white hair, dressed in a red dress and a green apron, came to meet them with a hot plate of sugar cookies.

Nick gave the woman a big hug as he took the food from her. "I see you already started to decorate, Mama."

The woman replied with a string of strange words Jack couldn't understand and Nick laughed. "Well, we're going to be working out in Papa's woodshop for the evening, but we'll be sure to come in for dinner."

Then Nick grabbed Jack and pulled him forward. "Mama, this is Jack, our new member."

The woman smiled at Jack and gave him a bone crunching hug.

"Welcome, new friend of Nicholas!" she said with a strong Russian accent that did nothing to mask the warm and inviting tone of her words. "And look, you are twig! You are needing food!"

Then she set Jack down and hurried back to her kitchen with cries of, "I'll bring out more cookies."

Nick gave his stunned companion a light pat on the back. "She likes you!"

Aster seemed thrilled. "Yeah, and you're scrawnier than me, so she finally has a new target to fatten up."

Jack gave the others a nervous smile before asking, "Shouldn’t we be heading out to the workshop, like, now?"

The others laughed and Nick began to assure Jack that his mother really wasn’t _that_ bad as he lead them through the house and out the back door. In the back yard, surrounded by snow, sat a wooden shed about the size of a classroom and it was here that Nick lead them. Once the brunet had opened the door, he ushered them inside, and Jack found himself surrounded by half-finished wood carvings, power tools, whittlers' implements, and slabs of untouched wood.

As he looked around in wonder, Nick spread his arms wide and said, "Welcome to the workshop!"

Jack quickly learned just how talented Nick was as the older teen set to work on Aster's designs. While the other members of the group chattered and worked on homework, Jack was content to just sit there and watch Nick work. When he noticed Jack’s fascinated look, the burly teen started to let him help.

At first, Nick only had the albino do simple tasks, like holding pieces of wood for him, but when he saw how eager Jack was to do even these simple things, Nick started to teach him the basics of woodworking. It turned out that Jack was a fast learner and, by the time it was time to go home, Nick had even taught him how to use the band saw.

* * *

The Bennett family was just about to sit down to dinner when the phone rang. Mr. Bennett sighed, stood up from the table, and grabbed the white nuisance off its hook. "Hello?"

A young, British voice replied, "Hi, Jack?"

"Jack? I'm sorry, but you have the wrong number."

"Are you sure? I thought this was his number."

"I'm sorry, kid, but there's no Jack here."

"My apologies, Sir."

"It's fine, don't worry about it. We all make mistakes," Mr. Bennett replied as he hung up the phone and went to sit with his family. Honestly, that was the fifth time someone had dialed the wrong number in the past week!

On the other end of the line, Pitch clicked off the recorder. He finally had everything he needed. Now, all that remained was to master Mr. Bennett's voice. Jack Frost was going to pay for his betrayal.


	10. Chapter 10

“Aaaaand done!” Nick announced triumphantly as he finished sanding the last piece of the first booth and stepped back to survey the final product.

His loud exclamation drew the attention of the other four, each of whom had been busily working on their own projects at various locations in the workshop. When Nick turned around the saw four curious gazes trained on him, he grinned and asked, “Well, aren’t you gonna come over and admire my work?”

Aster was the first to move, setting aside his sketch pad and walking over to stand by his friend’s side. By the time the others had made their way over to join the duo, the artist had finished examining the pieces and was nodding in approval. “It looks good, mate. Do you think we have room in here to assemble it so that I can get started painting?”

“There should be enough room over there once Jack’s finished,” Nick replied, motioning across the workshop to where Jack had been carefully marking out the pattern for the next booth.

“And I think that’s my cue to get back to work,” Jack said as he began to turn around, but Aster stopped him mid spin.

“Hold on a second there, Frostbite. You and the master craftsman here need to take a lunch break.”

Jack blinked in surprise as Nick pulled out his phone and checked the time. “It’s that late already? I’m surprised Mama didn’t come out and fetch us by now.”

Ana and Sandy began to laugh and even Aster let out a light chuckle before saying, “She did. You were just too busy working to notice.”

Now Nick was laughing too and it took a few moments before his boisterous chuckles died down enough for Aster to continue. “Ana convinced her to let you finish sanding the booth before we took a break and, now that you’re done, I think it’s best we keep our word.”

The proposal was agreed upon by all and the five teens were soon headed across the snowy ground to the St. North’s house. As they walked, Jack looked over at Ana and asked, “So, how’s the plotting going?”

The blonde giggle, looking a little embarrassed when she replied, “I wasn’t working on stuff for the fair, actually.”

This comment drew everyone’s attention. It was a rare occurrence to find Ana slacking off.

“What were you doing then?” Aster asked with genuine curiosity.

“Working on designing my Halloween costume. The minis have decided this year’s theme will be fairies, thanks in no small part to a certain someone’s story, so I’m stuck making my own costume because all the ones in the store are definitely not appropriate for wearing around children.”

Jack ignored the reference to his story, choosing to focus on another part of Ana’s tale instead. “What kind of fairy?”

Ana’s frown disappeared, replaced with an amused smile as she asked, "Does it really matter?"

"Of course it matters!” Jack exclaimed, “You can't just be a generic fairy! That's no fun!"

"Okay, then I’ll be a…" Ana paused and thought for a moment before saying, “…a dancing fairy.”

By now the gang had reached the St. North’s house and Nick was just about to open the door when Jack said the words that made everyone stop and stare at him. “That’s _not_ a real fairy, why don’t you go as one that actually exists?”

It took a moment for Jack to realize what he’d said, at which point a pink blush began to tint his skin as he began to stammer and wave his hands about. “No, I didn’t, that’s not… I _know_ fairies aren’t real.”

This statement had no effect on the looks the others were giving him, so Jack tried again.

“I didn’t mean real real, I meant one that exists in mythology or stories. You know, like Queen Mab or Nymphs or even Tinkerbell.”

Now the disbelieving looks did vanish, turning into amused smiles as Aster said, “I never would have pegged you as a fairy nut, Frostbite.”

Jack smiled back sheepishly.

“I’m not, but my mom…” he stopped midsentence, his smile fading and the words dying in his throat. When he spoke again, it was in a far more subdued tone. “You know what, forget it. Let’s just go eat.”

Before the others could think of something to say, Jack had brushed past Nick and entered the house, leaving the gang standing outside, gazing after him sadly.

By the time they got inside and joined him, though, Jack’s mischievous grin was back and he was helping Mrs. St. North set the table for lunch. The food-loving woman had prepared a veritable feast of sandwiches and cookies, which the gang was more than happy to dig into.

For the first couple of minutes, the only sounds were the sounds of eating and happy sighs, but then Ana spoke up. “So, what kind of fairy do you think suits me best, Jack?”

From across the table, Aster gave her a disbelieving stare that clearly meant, “Have you lost it?”

To his surprise though, Jack didn’t shut down again. Instead, the albino set down his sandwich and began to ponder the question, occasionally shooting Ana odd looks. Soon, a pleased grin began to sneak its way across his features and he stated his choice, "Tooth fairy."

"Eww, no way! Who wants to handle things that have been in kids mouths?" Ana cried, but her eyes were shinning with amusement.

"You don't need to actually touch the teeth,” Jack explained “You can get helpers to do that."

Ana shook her head. "No thanks. Why in the world would you pick the tooth fairy for me anyway?"

"Because you're always doing a million and one things, you love kids, and you rarely take a break! What other fairy fits that description?"

Ana laughed, blushing at the compliment. "Okay, how about this, I'll be a tooth fairy if you help me take the minis trick-or-treating and let me pick out your outfit."

Jack pretended to seriously consider the proposition, but no one was surprised when he said, "Deal, but no cross dressing!"

"I would never do that to you!” She replied with a mischievous wink before asking, “What did you go as last year anyway?"

“Technically Danny Phantom, but all I did was wear black jeans, a black turtleneck, and white gloves.”

Ana made a noise of disapproval at the lameness of the costume and said, “Well, you’re _actually_ dressing up this year, that’s for sure. In fact, I know just what you should go as, too. Well, more like _who_ you should go as.”

Even Mrs. St. North was listening in now and everyone was curious what part Ana was going to assign to the group’s newest member. Realizing that she had an audience, Ana pointed a finger at Sandy and cried, "Drum roll, please.”

Sandy happily complied and began to tap his hands against the table.

Ana gave an approving nod and let him continue on for a few more seconds before making the kill motion and announcing her decision to the now silent room. “You're going to be going as the Prince of Winter himself, Jack Frost!"

Jack's laughter echoed through the room and, when he regained the ability to speak, he was grinning widely. "Jack Frost, huh? That does sound fun."

 

* * *

Over the next few weeks, Jack often found himself being dragged to Ana's house on his free days for fittings and measurements. The seamstress was insistent on two things: one, making his outfit herself and two, not allowing him to see it until she was done.

Jack didn’t mind, though, as most of these meetings were spent with Ana sequestering herself in her room to sow while he got to play with the minis. The little girls were delighted to get to spend so much time with their favorite playmate and loved making sure he kept his eyes closed whenever Ana came rushing downstairs to check if something fit.

Progress wasn’t limited to Jack’s costume, either. On the days when Ana didn’t drag him home with her, Jack helped Nick with his work on the booths while Aster began to work on painting “his masterpieces” onto the finished ones. Sandy often joined the trio and Nick put him to work sanding the unpainted booths so that Ana would stop complaining about “splinter risks.” Slowly, but surely, the fair was coming together.

The gang was coming together, too. Jack was no longer an outsider forced upon them by Mr. Moon. No, he was a true member of the team and, little by little, he was starting to accept that place.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: This chapter may be somewhat traumatic

It’s a lonely thing to be the new kid. It’s a terrifying thing to be stuck living with strangers. It’s a shocking thing to suddenly lose your parents. Is it any wonder that a child who was put through these things would push people away? No, but neither is it surprising that people would let him.

Technically speaking, Pitch met Jack on November 14, 2005, the 50th day of their fifth grade year, but the boy Pitch met that day could hardly be called Jack Frost. The young albino had only just lost his parents and their deaths were a gaping wound in his soul that had left him little more than a shell of his true self.

To most of his new classmates, Jack was a strange looking kid with sad, blue eyes who seemed to push everyone away. Maybe things would have been different had they known Jack’s past, but they didn’t. All they saw was the person Jack’s losses had forged him into, the loner who seemed to hate everyone and who certainly didn’t want friends, so no one tried to break through the icy walls around his fragile heart. No one, that is, but Pitch.

The pain in Jack’s eyes drew Pitch to him like a moth to a flame and, for the first time the ebony-haired lad could remember, he actually wanted to be friends with someone. Making friends with Jack Frost wasn’t easy, though. It took months of trying, of walking Jack home when the albino refused to take the bus, of talking to Jack without getting more than a grunt in reply, of always being Jack’s partner when no one else wanted to be, but in the end, Pitch met his goal.

On a sunny January afternoon, when Pitch had once again followed Jack as he walked home from school, Jack finally broke. He'd told Pitch everything. How he'd lost his parents. How, just that weekend, he'd given up the hope of ever seeing his baby brother and sister again. How he hated this new town. How he wished he’d died in the fire that had stolen away his world and how he could barely sleep due to the nightmares that constantly filled his dreams. It was the first time Pitch had ever seen such raw pain and the sight filled him with a feeling he’d never felt before: elation. Even as a child, Jack was _stunningly_ beautiful when broken.

Elation wasn’t the only thing Pitch felt, though. Another feeling was swirling about inside: accomplishment. After all, if it weren't for his prodding, Jack wouldn’t be the sobbing mess before him. As he absentmindedly patted Jack’s back and repeated the words his mother always used to say when Pitch was upset, the dark haired child began to wonder how he could tap into this pain. Was it possible to reduce Jack to this state whenever he wanted to?

Pitch soon learned the answer to that question: no. The only reason his tactics had worked so well was that Jack had just suffered the loss of his siblings. The day he realized this was the day Pitch Black came to understand a simple truth: to break a person, you needed to mess with their heart.

One other thing changed on that fateful day, Jack accepted his place as Pitch’s first and only friend. It turned out that, in spite of Jack’s cold persona, he was desperate to belong. Pitch was more than happy to make his new friend feel wanted, too. Jack was someone to listen to his brilliant plans, praise them, and then help carry them out. He was also someone to take the blame when things went wrong. All Pitch had to do was suggest a bit of mischief and Jack was willing to lend a hand to make his friend happy. On the rare occasion when Jack didn't like Pitch's ideas, the crafty boy would say just the right words to play with Jack's heart and Jack would be putty in his hands.

Over time, pieces of Jack's playful nature returned as the wounds left by the loss of his family began to heal. Though people still thought of him as a loner, they began to associate him with pranks instead of hatred, but the damage was already done. People were afraid of Pitch and, wherever Jack went, Pitch’s dark shadow was sure to follow, keeping Jack alone and friendless. This, in turn, kept Jack wrapped around Pitch's fingers, desperate to make sure that he didn’t lose his only friend. If it hadn’t been for that desperation, Pitch would never have been able to secure Jack's help with sabotaging the Christmas benefit.

Pitch went too far, though, and enough of Jack’s true nature had resurfaced for the snowy-haired teen to allow Pitch’s plan to succeed…

“Are you sure about this?” Jack asked as he grabbed onto the edge of the wooden snowman.

Pitch rolled his eyes and smirked at his worried looking friend. “Relax. It’s just a little prank, that’s all.”

Then he grabbed onto the other side of the snowman and lifted it into the air. Together, the two teens began to carry the prop out of the dark auditorium. As they walked, Jack said, “I’m just worried that we’re gonna get in trouble, that’s all.”

“Since when did you start caring about getting into trouble?”

Jack stopped walking and Pitch hit into the edge of the snowman with a loud “oomph!”

“There’s a big different between getting detention for playing some harmless pranks and what happens if you’re caught stealing the props for the Christmas benefit!”

“We’re not stealing them! We’re just going to borrow them long enough to make Aster and those other do gooders freak out, then we’ll “find them” in the woods and be the hero.”

“Right…” Jack fell silent, but didn’t start moving. Pitch sighed, more than a little annoyed. Jack had never been so hard to convince before!

“Okay, what’s wrong?”

“You’re gonna think it’s really stupid.”

 _Undoubtedly_. “Come on, Jack. Something’s obviously bothering you.”

Jack began drumming his fingers against the snowman and a faint blush colored his cheeks as he explained. “It’s just… Pippa’s choir had its Christmas concert last weekend and they used props like these. I feel like I’m playing a prank on my baby sister.”

 _This ever growing conscious of his is really starting to get annoying._ Pitch thought for a moment, deciding what tactic to use, and then spoke. “Don’t think about how upset she’d be when the props went missing; think about how happy she’d be when the props were found! Besides, think of how much fun it’ll be to watch Aster freak out.”

It wasn’t his best line ever, but it seemed to do the trick since Jack started moving again as he muttered the words, “Forget it, I’m being an idiot. Let’s just get this over with.”

Soon, the duo had loaded all the props they could fit into Pitch’s mother’s car and were on their way out into the woods to hide them, or at least that’s what Jack thought they were doing. Pitch hadn’t told Jack the whole plan for that night…

Jack set down his end of the prop and glanced back at the car. In the dim light he could see that this had been the final prop, which meant that his part in this stupid plan was over. Now he could go home and pretend this had never happened. He turned back to face Pitch and his eyes widened in shock when he saw the object in his friend’s hand. “What are you doing?”

Pitch flicked the lighter, igniting a small fire at its tip. “You know, it’s a little cold out tonight. What do you say to a good, ol’ fashion bonfire?”

Jack’s heart began to race at the sight of the open flame, but he kept his voice stead when he replied, “Pitch, this isn’t funny anymore. Put that thing away.”

“Oh, come on Jack, this is the only way we stay out of trouble. I’ve been thinking and you’re right about this being a much bigger deal than a little prank.”

Jack didn’t reply, in fact he was barely even listening, too busy staring at the fire in Pitch’s hand. Pitch didn’t realize the reason for Jack’s silence and thought his words were swaying his friend, so he continued. “If we get caught this could mean expulsion. Even if we took the props back now it’s too late. The school is locked and we closed the door we propped open, so we’d have to wait until morning and do you really think they’ll believe that we just found them? The only way to stay out of trouble is to remove the evidence.”

Jack remained silent as his breath began to grow harsh and jagged, but it was too dark for Pitch to see the albino’s odd reaction. Believing that Jack had been swayed, Pitch leaned down to light fire to the wooden snowman on the top of the pile. As the edge of the snowman began to blacken, something snapped inside of Jack and he dashed forward, tackling Pitch and knocking him to the ground. The lighter went flying into the night and, with its source gone, the fire died out after only charring the snowman and the surface of backdrop under it. Enraged, Pitch lashed out at his so-called friend and soon the two boys were rolling across the ground in a massive fight.

They fought until the commotion drew the attention of a nearby group of late night hikers. When these adults arrived at the scene and saw the damage, they pulled the duo apart and kept them there until the authorities had been called. Pitch had been blamed for orchestrating the plan, but Jack had received equal punishment for helping.

Neither boy told anyone that Jack had stopped the fire and the details of the event were so hazy that only a chosen few even knew that a fight had occurred. It was assumed by everyone that the duo just hadn’t started the fire well enough for it to take and the hikers were credited with the fact that the boys didn’t have time to try again.

Everyone, that is, except for Manfred Moon, Jack’s social worker and English teacher. When he heard about the fight, a different picture of the evening began to form in his mind, but he kept the speculation to himself. Jack’s reputation was far too tarnished for anyone by a chosen few to believe what Mr. Moon suspected was the truth.

Then something unexpected happened. The boys stopped talking. Jack was furious with Pitch and, instead of putting in the effort to win back Jack’s trust, Pitch allowed his friend to be alone. He figured that, after spending several months totally friendless, Jack would come crawling back to where he belonged: at Pitch's side. It might have worked, had Mr. Moon not seen his one chance to save Jack and taken it.

By the time Pitch realized what was happening, it was too late. Jack had friends. Friends who were feeding the light in Jack’s heart and destroying all of Pitch’s hard work and so he’d watched, waiting for a chance to reclaim what was his. He'd watched as Nick taught Jack about woodworking at lunch time. He'd watched as Ana and Jack laughed together while walking to class. He'd watched as Sandy made Jack smile at some unspoken joke. He'd even watched the traitor messing about in the snow with Aster Wilder. It made Pitch want to scream. Jack was his. His broken little toy to do with as he pleased, but Jack wasn't going to be broken for much longer if Pitch didn’t do something, so he stopped waiting for a chance. Pitch was going to take his property back and break it so hard that nothing could ever put the pieces back.

* * *

Snowflakes gently fell from the sky as Jack walked along the snowy streets of Narvon, just enjoying the glory of his favorite season and allowing the calming sight of the snow to take his mind off the date. It was October 21st, seven years to the day since he lost his parents. Jack smiled, a true first for him. He never smiled on October 21st. Normally, he just hid in his room and tried to sleep through the day, but not this year. This year he was finally letting himself remember and, for once, it wasn’t with shame. For the first time since he'd lost his family, Jack felt like he was making them proud.

Suddenly, his phone began buzzing in his pocket, interrupting his reminiscing. Jack pulled the plastic device out and glanced at the screen, wondering who it was. The number was unfamiliar, but he recognized the area code: Burgess. Curiosity filled his veins as he answered the phone with a puzzled, "Hello?"

"Hi, Jack?"

He recognized the voice immediately, even if it sounded like the man had a slight cold, and the sound filled him with dread. Mr. Bennett only called when something major happened, like the time Pippa had broken her arm. "What's wrong? Are they okay?"

"Everything's fine,” was the quick reply, but then the man continued on, “I actually wanted to ask a favor of you."

Jack was thoroughly confused now, the Bennetts had never asked him for a favor before. "Yes?"

"Well, I'm sure I don’t need to tell you what today is and, well, we've decided that the twins are old enough to learn the truth about their family." Jack almost dropped the phone, but he somehow managed to maintain his grip as the words, "And we wanted to ask you to be there” came out of the tiny speaker by his ear.

The line went silent, but Jack didn’t say a word, too shocked to speak.

"Jack, are you still there?"

This time the teen managed squeaked out a trembling, "Yes."

"I know this is terribly last minute, but it took a while for Mrs. Bennett to agree to invite you. It took a while for her to even agree to tell them, actually. We're going to the grave site in a couple of hours and we'll understand if you don't want to be there, but we'd love it if you'd come."

The suggestion of missing out on seeing his siblings, really seeing them, for the first time was enough to wake Jack from his stupor and he quick replied, "No, no, I'll be there. Thank you, Mr. Bennett."

"No, thank you, Jack. We know these past few years must have been hard on you and it's time we started to make things right."

Jack almost cried at these words, but he kept himself under control. There was no way he was going to be anything but happy the first time Jamie and Pippa saw him if he had any say in the matter. After bidding Mr. Bennett a hasty goodbye, he shoved his phone into his pocket and rushed towards the bus stop. The next bus to Burgess would be leaving soon and Jack _had_ to be on it.

He was so excited that he didn't even think to tell the Overlands that he was leaving town or pause to wonder how the Bennetts had gotten ahold of his cell phone number.

* * *

The Bennetts didn’t come, though, and now Jack's whole body felt frozen. He'd been waiting in the snow by his parent’s tombs for well over three hours and he was finally starting to give up his last spark of hope. As he traced a finger along the marble surface of his mother’s gravestone, he gave it a shaky smile. This was the one day of the year he avoided this place. He’d tried to come once, on the one year anniversary, but had vowed to never try again when the worst nightmare he’d had in months came to him that night.

A shiver ran through his body and his teeth began to chatter as he whispered the words, "Sorry, Mom. Sorry, Dad. Here I am visiting and I didn't even bring flowers. Don't worry, though, I'll bring extra on Mom's birthday."

"Jack?"

Jack jumped slightly at the unexpected noise and turned his gaze from the grave into the worried eyes of Pitch Black. "Pitch? What are you doing here?"

The other teen seemed embarrassed and motioned to the flowers in his hand, an enormous bouquet of roses and baby's breath. "I was in Burgess to do some shopping and I had some free time, so I thought I'd swing by and leave these. I didn't think you'd be here what with this being the day that, well, you know..."

Jack stared at the flowers and then burst into tears.

Pitch almost cooed in delight, it was just too easy to manipulate Jack's emotions on the 21st. Instead, he kept his excitement in check and he knelt down, wrapping the crying teen in a fierce hug. "Jack, what's wrong?"

Somehow Jack managed to choke out the details of what had happened as sobs began to shake his thin body.

When he finished the story, Pitch let out a gasp of horror and held him close. "Jack, I don't know what to say. Those horrible people! When will they stop hurting you like this?"

Jack just cried harder, clinging to Pitch with all his might.

Pitch gently rubbed the smaller boys back for a few moments and then rose from the ground, pulling Jack with him as he said, "Come on, I'll take you home."

Jack merely nodded, too busy fighting back another round of sobs to speak, and allowed Pitch to lead him to the parking lot where the amber eyed teen’s motorcycle was waiting.

Pitch got on first and strapped on his helmet before helping Jack climb on behind him. The broken teen was too busy crying to even think about the fact that he didn't have his own helmet as Pitch took off into the growing darkness.

* * *

Jack clutched the back of Pitch's leather jacket, sobbing, as the two sped along the snowy highway. How could the Bennetts do this to him? It didn't make any sense. He'd done nothing to them. Was it because they were sick of Jack coming to see the twins? Had the Bennetts grown tired of the constant reminder of the past dampening their enjoyment of their children's achievements? He always tried to make sure the Bennetts didn't see him when he came, but maybe he hadn't tried hard enough.

Another sob coursed through his body as he felt the motorcycle starting to slow down. He'd been so busy crying he hadn't even opened his eyes on the ride home, but now he needed to stop. He couldn’t let the Overlands see him like this.

By the time Pitch stopped the bike, Jack had managed to calm his sobs enough that he was pretty sure he could walk without collapsing into a blubbering mess and so he got off the bike, ready to thank Pitch and walk inside, but his thanks died on his lips when he saw where they were. They weren't at the Overlands. They were stopped on a back road in the middle of a snow-covered forest.

He looked around in confusion as the last few tears streaked down his face and asked, "Where are we, Pitch?"

The older boy snickered. "Wouldn't you like to know?"

Jack spun towards Pitch, anger abruptly surging through him, and was met by a strong blow to the head. Darkness immediately consumed him and he crumpled to the ground, unconscious.

Pitch threw his helmet onto the snow covered earth with an amused chuckle as he turned off his bike. It looked like the thing that kept your head safe was also a great instrument to apply a little blunt-force trauma. Now, what to do with Jack?

He got off the bike and studied the smaller teen’s crumpled form. Jack was wearing a thick winter coat, but little else that would keep him warm in the icy air, and his face was covered in frozen trails of salty liquid. A few drops were even clinging to his eyelashes. A good size bump was probably forming under the snowy hair, too, but nothing was visible yet.

Pitch was proud of his work so far, but he knew that he needed to move Jack away from the road to somewhere where the albino was less likely to be found and he needed to do it before someone came along. This road wasn’t well traveled, but that didn’t mean it was abandoned.

With these thoughts in mind, Pitch grabbed his former friend's legs and began to drag him along, searching for a good spot, until they reached the edge of a frozen lake. A quick tug and Jack was on the ice. Pitch grinned and gave the limp form a final push, so that it was resting in the middle of the lake. Then Pitch went back to his bike and grabbed some old strips of cloth. Soon, Jack's body was immobilized and an oil-stained rag was wrapped tightly around his frozen lips.

Pitch looked down at his work and began to laugh. This would teach the fool to abandon him. In a day or two, Pitch would come back and take the nearly dead Jack to the hospital with some sob story about finding him while on a late night ride. He doubted his once friend would actually remember what had happened with how deep into the onset of hypothermia he'd be by then. Even if he did, it would be seen as the mad ravings of a delirious victim, mistaking his savior for his assailant. Jack would recover physically, but Pitch doubted his spirit would ever be the same.


	12. Chapter 12

Ana pulled the main body of her hair back into its usual high pony tail before stepping in front of the mirror. She’d just finished the final touches on her Halloween costume and was curious to see how it looked.

It had taken her a while to figure out how to pull off the whole tooth fairy thing, but she was rather pleased with the results. She’d covered a pair of tight, dark-blue jeans with shimmering green scales that looked a bit like feathers and paired that with a tight, black tank top that had also been layered with scales. A warm, cobalt blue peacoat and a pair of wings that she'd borrowed from the storage room completed the outfit. It wasn’t the most traditional fairy costume, but she thought it looked great!

Once she’d decided the outfit was, indeed, finished, Ana flipped open her makeup kit and was just about to begin experimenting with colors when the phone rang. Her parents were home, though, so she ignored it and started to apply a coat of cobalt eye shadow.

She’s barely gotten done with her first eye when her mother knocked on the door and peaked in.

Ana set down her makeup and asked, "What’s up mom?"

"Are you busy? Mrs. Overland's on the phone for you."

“Any idea what she wants?”

Mrs. Romoli shook her head. “No, but she sounds upset.”

Ana shrugged and grab her room's extension and gave a quick, "Hello?" as her mother headed back downstairs to finish dinner.

"Ana, dear, this is Mrs. Overland. Have you heard from Jack recently?" Her mother hadn’t been kidding, the woman on the other end of the line sounded terrified.

"No,” Ana replied, suddenly worried, “What's happened?"

"He went out for a walk a few hours ago and never came home. We assumed that he was with one of you kids, but when it started to get dark we started to worry. We've tried his phone half a dozen times, but he won't answer."

Ana could feel her heart starting to speed up. Jack always answered his phone right away. "Have you called the guys yet?"

"No, your home number was the only one Jack gave us."

"Okay, well, I'll call them and see if they know anything."

"Thank you, dear. I’ll let you know if we hear from him.”

“And I’ll do the same,” Ana replied, already reaching for her cellphone.

* * *

"Great job, Sophie!" Aster said as his baby sister finished coloring in the fairies he’d drawn for her.

The little girl beamed at the praise and hugged her big brother, covering his shirt with pink and purple finger paint. He laughed and hugged her back, mentally congratulating himself for remembering to wear a shirt he didn't care about this time as he asked, "So, what should we paint now?"

"Bunnies! Hop, hop!"

"Okay, bunnies it is!"

"Aster draws. Sophie paints!"

"Right!" Sophie watched, enthralled, as her brother quickly sketched a pair of fluffy looking bunnies with a black Sharpie. As soon as he'd finished the picture, she began to paint the image, completely obscuring Aster's sketch with green and purple finger paint. Aster thought it was a masterpiece.

" _You can dance, you can jive, having the time…_ " Aster rolled his eyes, turning his attention from his little artist, and grabbed his phone from his back pocket. Leave it to Ana to interrupt family time. "How many times do I have to tell you I'm not using this dumb song as your ring tone? How'd you even get a hold of my phone to change it, anyway?"

"Aster, Jack's missing."

Aster’s amused grin disappeared in an instant and, when he spoke again, all humor was gone from his voice. "What? What do you mean 'missing'?"

"The Overlands don't know where he is and he's not picking up his cell."

Aster felt a knot of fear beginning to form in his chest. "Did you try Nick and Sandy?"

"Nick's not picking up either, but that probably means that he's working in the workshop. I sent Sandy a text and he doesn't have a clue."

Aster stood up and Sophie looked at him in confusion, unused to being ignored by her big brother. "Right, I'll borrow the car from my dad and we'll go out to Nick's place to see if Jack's there. Text Sandy and tell him we'll pick him up on the way."

"Aster, what if he isn't there?"

Aster’s hand tightened around his phone as he thought about what that would mean, but his voice was deadly calm when he replied, "Then we keep looking until we find him."

* * *

Jack wasn't with Nick. As Ana had guessed, the jolly teen had been hard at work in the workshop and thus missed his phone ringing. Once the others had explained what was going on, though, he'd immediately grabbed his coat and volunteered to drive around in the sleigh, searching for Jack. Aster vetoed that idea, saying, “We should check in with the Overland first, maybe they’ve already found him. At the very least they’ll be able to tell us where they’ve looked so far.”

This suggestion had led to the four teens crowding around Aster's cellphone, waiting for the Overlands to pick up.

It was immediately clear that Jack was still missing when Mrs. Overland answered with a trembling, "Hello?"

"Hi, Mrs. Overland, it's Aster and the gang. Jack isn't with any of us. Has there been any sign of him?"

Mrs. Overland gave an anguished moan before shakily replying, "No, nothing. Mr. Overland even went into Burgess and checked the Frost's grave. There was a huge bouquet of flowers, but no Jack."

Ana spoke up now. "Why'd he check the Frost's grave?"

"Well, it’s the anniversary of the day Jack's parents died and we thought he might have gone there. He doesn’t usually go, but we couldn’t think of anywhere else to look. "

Aster clenched the phone tighter in his grasp as the other exchanged worried glances. "No one’s seen him?"

"No! We've called everyone we could think of, even Jessica Black. Jack doesn't have any friends other than you four as far as we know, so it was a pretty short list."

Aster groaned in frustration. When he got his hands on Jack, he was going to put a tracking collar on him. As the thought crossed his mind, Aster almost dropped his phone. A tracking collar! "Jack's phone! It’s got a GPS!"

On the other end of the line Mrs. Overland gave a cry of excitement as the gang’s worried looks turned into delighted grins.

"Mrs. Overland, we've gotta go now. We'll call you if this works." Aster snapped the phone shut and looked over at his Russian friend. "Nick, we need to use your computer."

* * *

Jack awoke to find himself surrounded by near darkness with the only light coming from the stars high above. Where was he and why was he was so cold? He tried to move his arms, but found them tightly bound. He tried to cry out, but there was something covering his mouth. The fact that he couldn't feel it touching his lips terrified him. How long had he been like this?

Jack couldn't remember. He tried to recall how he'd gotten here, but he was too cold and too tired to think. He could feel his eyes drooping and he wondered what had woken him up, then he felt his phone vibrate in his back pocket. _So that’s what woke me up._

The phone began to vibrate again and Jack felt some of his terror easing away into the fog that was slowly clouding his mind. His phone, Aster had given him that. He could remember that. He remembered how embarrassed the taller teen had been when he gave Jack the gift and the smiles on the faces of his other friends when he'd opened the present. He remembered Sandy programming all of their numbers into the light blue piece of technology while Ana had assigned each of them a ring tone. He remembered Nick insisting his ringtone be that stupid Chipmunk Christmas song.

For some reason, these images made Jack feel bad for being tired, though he couldn’t figure out why. As his phone began to vibrate once more, Jack tried to move, but his body stayed in place no matter how hard he wiggled. The ground beneath him had no friction. Ice. Why was there ice? He let out a tired growl of frustration and stopped trying. Maybe if he just took a little nap, he’d have the energy to move when he woke up.

* * *

The GPS locater seemed to have worked, but when the teens began to follow its directions they suddenly weren't so sure. The tracking app on Aster’s phone lead them to a snow covered back road, miles from any sort of civilization. When Nick stopped the sleigh, Aster looked out into the night gloom and groaned. "There's no way he's out there. How would Jack have even got here?"

Ana shrugged. "Who knows, but we might as well look. The Overlands have already covered the town and he's gotta be somewhere."

Sandy nodded and jumped out of the car.

"Sandy,” Ana called after him, “come back! You need a flashlight!"

The smaller teen turned around and was about to come back to the car when he noticed something. There were strange marks in the snow in front of the jeep that were being lit up by the headlights. It looked like something had been dragged into the forest.

Suddenly wary, Sandy ignored the calls of his friends and began to follow the tracks.

When the others realized what had fascinated him, they quickly grabbed a pair of flashlights from Nick's glove compartment and headed after the diminutive teen.

After a short walk, the trail ended at of a frozen lake. Sandy was standing on the edge of the ice, pointing across the frozen water and Nick shined his flashlight where his friend was pointing. In the center of the ice lay a body, bound and gagged. "Jack!"

Aster dropped his flashlight and ran across the ice, sliding to a stop by Jack's body. He knelt down and rolled the freezing boy over as the others carefully followed him out onto the frozen water.

Jack's skin was even paler than normal and streaks of frozen tears covered his face, but he was awake and, when Aster removed the gag, he was smiling. Delirious blue eyes looked up at the group for a few seconds before sliding shut as Jack fell into unconsciousness in Aster's arms.


	13. Chapter 13

Nick pulled out of the school parking lot and turned onto the street, headed towards the hospital. No one spoke during their ride or on the increasingly familiar walk to Jack’s room, each too caught up in their own thoughts for conversation.

When they got to Jack’s room, they could see that there’d been no change. The albino’s eyes were still shut tight and his body was crisscross with wires and tubes, but at least the oxygen mask was gone.

The quartet spread out over the room, each taking their usual spot. Sandy perched by the window and Nick took a spot by the door while Ana and Aster took seats on either side of Jack’s bed. Ana took Jack’s hand in hers and began to talk, as had become the custom over the past three days.

“Hey, Jack. You really need to wake up soon if you wanna be released in time to go trick-or-treating with the minis and me. They keep asking if you’re gonna be okay…”

She continued on talking, telling Jack about the minis and all the things he was missing in class as Aster sat with his arms crossed and stared at his unconscious friend, trying not to think about the fact that, after three days, the chance of Jack waking up had dropped below 50%.

Not that there was any reason to believe Jack wouldn’t wake up. According to the doctors, he was fine. The head trauma was minor and they’d been able to bring his body temperature back to a normal range with minimal difficulty, meaning that the hypothermia hadn’t had time to deal any lasting damage. None of that would make an ounce of difference if Jack didn’t wake up soon, though. By weeks end, Jack’s chances of ever waking up would be in the single digits.

Aster didn’t even have an outlet for his anger because the bloody cops had yet to discover who’d done this. What was the point of a police force if people ended up tied up and abandoned in the woods to die?

The Australian leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes with an exhausted sigh. He couldn’t even paint to take his mind off of this mess. The only image he could envision with his mind’s eye was Jack's frozen, tear-stained face when they’d found him. Not exactly something he wanted to put on canvas. It certainly didn’t help that he’d been having so much trouble concentrating on homework that he was staying up into the wee hours of the morning on a nightly basis.

He was so tired that he didn’t realize he’d drifted off until Sandy was shaking him awake as Nick informed him that visiting hours were over and it was time to go. Ana was standing by the door, looking at him. He knew she was worried and that she’d be coming over after Nick had dropped them off, but he really didn’t mind. He needed to vent.

Now that he was fully awake, Aster motioned the others to go ahead of him as he stretched. Once he was sure that they were gone, he stood up and looked down at his comatose friend before carefully placing a tanned hand on top of Jack’s pale one. “Please wake up, Frostbite. I can’t… just wake up, okay?”

Then he followed the others out into the hallway.

* * *

Aster felt his heart stop when they opened the door to Jack’s room on day four and found him missing. This was it. Jack was gone and they hadn’t even gotten to say goodbye.

“Mind getting out of the way so I can wheel him in?”

The gang whipped around to find a smiling nurse holding onto the handles of a wheelchair in which a very much awake Jack Frost was sitting with a smile, a real smile, spread across his face.

Ana immediately started crying before rushing forward and wrapping her arms around Jack with a loud cry of, "You're awake!"

The boys stayed back, content to watch as the albino weakly returned the hug and said, “It good to see you, too.”

A polite cough from the nurse brought Ana to her senses and she let go of Jack, stepping back so that the nurse could wheel him into his room as she whipped her eyes. Once Jack had been returned to his bed and the nurse had left with a warning that “visits should be kept short for now, he only reached full cognizance half an hour ago,” the gang crowded around him.

Jack, for his part, seemed more than happy to just smile sleepily and listen as Nick and Ana began to talk over one another, each eager to tell him how much he’d been missed. When the duo finally stopped talking, Aster asked, "So, how are you feeling, Frostbite?"

"Happy,” Jack said as his eyes drooped down.

“Happy?” Nick replied in surprise.

Jack nodded as his eyes slid shut, “Yeah, happy. I finally… have… friends…”

The sentence trailed off as the exhausted teen fell asleep, but it had been more than enough to get the message across and, after a whispered conversation, the gang decided they should head out and let Jack sleep.

They were just about to follow through on that plan when Jack shot up in his bed. He was breathing heavily and his eyes were darting around the room wildly as he started yelling, "Pitch! Where's Pitch?"

Ana was by his side in a second. She took his hand in hers and gently stroked it as she said, "Jack, it's okay, it's okay. They found Pitch, too."

His eyes stopped their constant motion and focused on Ana as a puzzled frown appeared on his face. "Found Pitch?"

"Yes, when the police went to search the area where we found you they found Pitch as well. He’d been beaten up pretty badly, but he's alive. He woke up a few days ago, though he hasn't spoken to anyone yet."

* * *

Pitch could hardly believe his good fortune at finding the frozen pond. Even if Jack awoke, the ice would make it near impossible for the weakened teen to move around. He'd stay right where Pitch left him until it was time for Pitch to "rescue" him. Pleased with his work, Pitch went back to his bike, hopped on, and started to make his way back to Narvon. As he reached the edges of the town, however, a thought struck him. Just how long had Jack been sitting out in the snow by the Frost's grave? Three, maybe four, hours? And he'd been crying the entire ride into the forest, too. Pitch pursed his lips, the elation starting to fade as he realized Jack might not be able to survive as long as he'd guessed. He didn't want Jack dead, just broken. A dead Jack would do him no good.

Pitch stopped the bike and turned around, beginning to retrace his path. He'd go back to the woods and wait where he could keep an eye on Jack. Once the boy had woken up and spent a good hour or two sobbing, Pitch would take him home. When he reached the woods, however, he found he couldn't remember where he'd stopped the first time. Annoyed with himself, Pitch parked his bike well off the road, grabbed a flashlight from his bike bag, and began to walk through the woods, searching for the lake. When he finally found it, though, Jack was gone. At first Pitch had just assumed that the other boy had somehow been able to scoot off the lake and into the woods, but further searching revealed four new sets of foot prints and a set of jeep tracks. Pitch shouted a curse. Someone had found Jack and he could just guess who.

This was bad. When Jack awoke there would be no way for Pitch to explain what had happened. He didn’t even have a light scratch while Jack had been found bound and gagged. He began to debate what to do when another thought struck him. Surely they'd send police out to search the area for clues, right? What if another body was found?

Pitch sighed, he was going to have to give up ever retrieving his motorcycle if people were going to believe this one. That thought hurt more than the pain he was about to inflict on himself, but a bike and a little physical discomfort were a small price to pay to stay out of jail.

Without another thought, Pitch smashed his body into a tree. Blood trickled down his face from a tiny gash the bark had given him, but he ignored it and threw himself into another one. He had to hurry if he wanted to finish before the cops arrived. As he smashed his body into yet another tree, he wondered how hard it would be to break his own leg.

* * *

"Pitch was attacked, too?" Jack asked, trying to put together the broken images from his mind while Sandy ran to get the nurse.

"Yeah, what did you think happened to him?" Aster had come to stand by the bed as well, looking concerned at Jack's obvious confusion.

"I…" Jack tried to remember, but nothing came to mind. "I don't know."

"Well, what do you remember?" Nick asked.

Looking a little lost, Jack told them the few things he remembered, though it wasn’t much. "Pitch was taking me somewhere and, before that... I was at my parent’s grave? That doesn’t make sense… I remember ice and something in my mouth… Oh, and I couldn’t move, that was weird."

The gang winced at this comment, remembering how they'd found Jack. It wasn't a pleasant memory.

Just then the door burst open and Mrs. Overland came rushing into the room. When she saw Jack sitting up and talking, her whole face lit up in a warm smile. "Jack! I just got off work. I wanted to come as soon as I heard you'd woken up, but the nurse told me not to rush since you'd probably be back asleep by the time I got here and I couldn't just rush off and leave the desk unmanned, but I wanted to come as soon as I heard…"

Aster and Ana moved back, allowing Mrs. Overland room to stand by Jack. She smiled and walked to his side, lightly brushing back his hair and checking his temperature. Jack batted her hand away halfheartedly, but he looked pleased with the attention despite his protest of, "I'm fine, really! Just a little tired."

"Jackson Nathaniel Frost, you have just woken up from a coma. I am allowed to be worried!"

Laughing, Jack made a gesture of surrender and leaned back onto his pillow, allowing his foster mother to fuss over him. When she'd finally stopped examining her foster son and had removed her hands, Jack spoke. "How's Pitch?"

Mrs. Overland started slightly at the question, but gave Jack a sad smile. "Well, his leg is broken, and he's not talking to anyone, but the doctors have said he's physically fine."

"Can I see him?"

Now she looked nervous. "I don't know if that's such a good idea, Jack. You only just woke up."

Jack widened his eyes, the picture of innocence. The fact that he could still pull off this trick at seventeen marveled Mrs. Overland, but it worked nonetheless.

"Oh, alright, we’ll see what the nurse says."

Just then, Sandy returned with the nurse at his heels.

The room’s occupants moved to the side, making way for the woman to come to Jack’s bed.

“Now, what’s this I hear about a freak out?”

Ana took over, explaining about Jack’s missing memories, but the nurse didn’t look worried.

“Oh, is that all? He’s fine. It’s far from unusual for head trauma cases to lose their memory of the events leading up to their injury; we don’t even consider it amnesia.”

Jack frowned. “How long is normal?”

“A better question is how much is missing.”

Jack though for a moment. “I don’t know. The last thing I remember is leaving my house to go for a walk…”

Mrs. Overland chimed in now. “That was around 4 and we realized Jack was missing around 7:30 or 8.”

The nurse nodded. “So you’ve lost about four hours. That’s within the normal range.”

“Will I get them back?” Jack asked as his frown deepened.

The nurse shrugged. “Who knows? Some people do and some don’t.”

“I guess that means we’ll have to hope that Pitch can tell what happened,” Aster said, looking none too pleased with that idea.

“Speaking of Pitch,” Jack added, “can I see him?”

* * *

Hospitals were terribly boring places, especially when you had to constantly keep up the devastated victim act and Pitch had been keeping it up all week. After all, he had to wait until Jack was out of his coma and had told people what he remembered before Pitch could tell people _his_ version of events. He had to make sure their stories matched.

There was a knock on the door and Pitch turned his head, making sure that his face was a mask of desperation and fear. This was so tedious. A plump nurse with curly black hair stuck her head in and smiled at him. "Pitch, dear, you have a visitor!"

He nodded mutely, barely acknowledging her statement.  _Let me guess, my idiotic mother come to weep over her poor baby once more. How pathetic._

It wasn't his mother, though. Instead, a wary-eyed Aster rolled Jack in on a wheelchair.

Jack smiled and gave Pitch a tired wave. "Guess who's back?"

 _Finally._ Pitch widened his eyes and let out a whispered, "Jack?"

Tears formed and began gently streaking down his pale skin as he spoke again, making sure his voice was weakened and hoarse. "You're alive! When those monsters hit you I… I thought for sure you were never going to wake up."

Aster looked stunned and let go of Jack's chair, taking in the sight of a seemingly broken Pitch. Jack, meanwhile, wheeled the chair to Pitch's side. "It's okay, Pitch. I'm fine."

Pitch continued to cry silently and Jack laid a comforting hand on his friend’s shoulder as the nurse ran from the room to fetch the doctor. When Jack began to murmur words of comfort, Pitch knew his plan was working.  _So far, so good._

* * *

Once Pitch learned that Jack had no real memory of what happened, he told his story. How he'd taken an upset Jack out into the woods to take a walk and talk with him, knowing nature often calmed the snowy-haired boy. How a group of drunken thugs had come out of the woods, jumped them, and knocked Jack out. How Pitch had tried to fight back, but had been overpowered and left in the middle of the woods to die while the monsters had stolen his bike and taken Jack somewhere else.

Pitch told how he'd tried to get up, tried to find Jack, but hadn't been able to move his leg. He sobbed crocodile tears as he recounted thinking he'd gotten his best friend killed. It was a heart-wrenching sight.

Everyone believed him.


	14. Chapter 14

Jack and Pitch were cleared to go home three days later. Since it was a Monday and the Overlands were still at work, the gang got permission to pick Jack up in their place as soon as school was over.

When they arrived, the others waited eagerly while Sandy went inside to check Jack out. As soon as the duo exited the building, the waiting trio began to cheer, causing a huge grin to spread across Jack’s still tired face.

A displeased Pitch watched this exchange the doorway. His mother wouldn't be off work for another couple of hours and he was stuck in this accursed place until then. If it weren’t for his stupid cast he would have checked himself out and just walked home, but he didn’t have any interest in walking that far while using crutches. At least his moronic nurse had agreed to wheel him down to the main door to see Jack off.

When Sandy and Jack reached the waiting members of their little pep squad, Pitch saw the golden haired teen turn and point at him. Words were exchanged between Jack and the others, but Pitch couldn't tell what they were. Then, to his horror, Aster Wilder was walking up the concrete path towards him. What could that idiot possibly want with Pitch?

"You’re 18, right?”

“Yes?” Pitch replied warily, not sure where this was going.

Aster nodded and glanced back at the waiting gang before letting out a sigh and asking, “Do you want a ride?"

This was unexpected. "Excuse me?"

Aster pointed at Pitch and said, "Do you," then he stopped and pointed to the jeep before continuing, "want a ride?"

"I, um, uh, what?" Pitch stammered out the words, quite certain he'd lost his mind at this point. Aster  _hated_  him.

The Australian had clearly sensed the other's confusion and tried to explain the offer, "Listen mate, we may have had our differences, but you're Jack's friend and we can't just leave you here in this place while the five of us go celebrate Jack's release."

"I'm quite certain you could, actually."

"Do you want the ride or not?" Aster replied with a glowered.

Deal with the idiots or be stuck in this place for another few hours? As much as Pitch detested it, there really was only one choice. "Sure."

And thus Pitch found himself shoved in the back of a peppermint scented Jeep, listening to Christmas carols. As Mariah Carey belted out, " _They're singing deck the halls, but it's not like Christmas at all..._ " Pitch wondered if it wouldn't have been better to stay at the hospital.

* * *

At least he didn’t have to deal with the do gooders for too long. A brief complaint of tiredness was all it took for them to agree to drop Pitch off at his home instead of dragging him along for celebratory milkshakes. He didn't even have to fake the tiredness, either. Just being in that Christmassy monster of a car for fifteen minutes had drained him. How could any of them stand it?

Once they’d got him home and made sure he was able to hobble his way inside, the gang bid him goodbye and headed off to their celebration. As soon as they were gone Pitch’s tired smile morphed into a calculating smirk as he lay back on his bed and began to plot.

He'd known that his act would have the police fooled, but he'd even been able to convince those try-hards that he really cared about Jack. This was certainly an unexpected development, but it was one he could definitely use to his advantage. Plan A had not been a total disaster, it seemed. If he could gain their trust and get into the group, then maybe, just maybe he could still pull this off. Jack had already offered to ask if he could join once before. Maybe it was time to see if that offer still stood.

* * *

Jack leaned against his windowsill, staring out into the Overland’s snow-covered back yard. He was finally back in his own room.

The past few days had been a blur of tests, visitors, police interviews, and exhaustion. Now he was finally alone with a solid chunk of guaranteed free time. It was a nice feeling and he needed some time to think. He'd almost died, after all, not that he could remember it. It bothered him that he couldn't recall anything after leaving the Overland’s to go on a walk. At least he had Pitch to fill in the gaps for him.

The older teen had told him how they'd gone to visit his parent’s grave together and how Jack had been pretty upset after the visit, leading to the surprise visit to the woods. He’d been surprised to hear about the graveyard visit since he always avoided that place on the 21st, but Pitch insisted that Jack had wanted to go and Jack didn’t have any choice but to believe him. What other reason could there have been?

Jack turned his gaze from the outside world and over to his bedside table. On it stood a single picture of his family – his  _real_  family. Jamie was in his father's arms, Pippa was in his mother's, and Jack was standing between them holding onto their free hands. They were all laughing and smiling, but that had always seemed to be the case back then. They were a happy family right to the end. After all, the picture had been taken the day before the fire and had survived only because the prints were still at the shop.

Jack leaned his head sideways against the chilly glass, looking into the smiling faces of his parents. "I really let you two down, didn't I? You were always doing good and helping people, but I…"

He pressed his forehead to the chilled glass once more, a sardonic smile gracing his lips. "…I gave up. I stopped trying to make people smile. For the past seven years I've been doing nothing but causing trouble and letting the world drag me along with it. It's like, when I lost you two, I lost the part of me that cared."

Silence filled the room as Jack continued to stare out into the winter scenery, thinking. "I haven't even skated or sung since that day. I threw away everything you two gave me – even Jamie and Pippa."

Jack felt strangely calm as he spoke to the memory of his parents, almost as if he was back in his mother’s arms, the most calming place he’d ever known. "There's a piece of me that died with you and it's never going to come back. No one can ever take your place, but that doesn't mean that I can't give other pieces of my heart away, right? If I'm so afraid of it breaking again that I never use it, isn't that like breaking it?"

He stepped away from the window now and moved to his bed, picked up the picture as he sat down on the periwinkle-blue sheets. Once he was settled, he began tracing his fingers over the image. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry I stopped being me, but that's changing. I'm making people smile again. I'm helping out with a children's fair, just like the summer festival you two used to throw. I'm going to stop coasting along and start living."

He hugged the picture to his chest, his eyes closed. "Thank you for everything you gave me. I love you."

Jack stayed like that for a long time, only putting the picture back when he heard the front door open. That meant Mrs. Overland was home. He glanced back at the picture and sighed. Time to start making good on his promise.

With that in mind, he left his room and headed downstairs to greet his foster mother. He reached the bottom of the stairs just as she was taking off her snow boots and she didn’t even notice him until he said, "Welcome home, Mom."

Mrs. Overland smiled at her foster son and opened her mouth to greet him when she registered what he'd called her. Jack had always called the Overlands Mr. and Mrs. Overland or Sir and Madam, but here he was calling her "Mom.”

Jack grinned at her shyly, knowing the reason for the confusion on her face. "A long time ago you said I could call you that if I'd like to. I think I'd like to."

She finished taking off her shoes, walked over to the waiting teen, and took him in her arms before saying, "I'd really like that, Jack."

* * *

Despite the Overland's concerns regarding the matter, Jack decided he wanted to go back to school the next day. They reluctantly agreed, but only if Jack would let one of them drive him there and only if Nick agreed to bring Jack home. A phone call later, Jack had secured Nick's help and so, at 7:30 the next morning, Jack woke up his foster parents and a bleary-eyed Mr. Overland drove the teen to school.

Once they’d reached the familiar red-brick building, Mrs. Overland stopped the car and said, "Here we are. Have a good first day back, Jack, and if you get too tired, give us a call and we'll come get you."

Jack laughed and gave his foster father the okay sign as he replied, "Alright, Dad."

Mr. Overland smiled at the endearment and Jack stepped out of the car into the crisp October air. Across the parking lot, Ana, Aster, Nick, and Sandy were sitting in the sleigh, waiting for his arrival. It felt good to be back.

When he reached the sleigh, Sandy opened the cherry red door and scooted over so Jack could join the group with a cheery, "Morning, everyone!"

Sandy gave him a welcoming smile as the others verbally greeted him in their various ways, happy to have their newest member back. It had surprised them just how much they'd missed Jack while he was gone. It was like all the fun had been drained out of the group.

Once the greetings were done, Ana leaned forward, resting her chin on top of Sandy's head, and smiled at Jack. The smaller boy crossed his arms, not exactly pleased at being used as a perch, while Ana spoke. "So, are you cleared to be a part of Halloween tomorrow, or am I taking the minis out by myself?"

Sandy shook his head, knocking Ana off before Jack could reply, and began waving his finger at her in.

The other three boys laughed at the sight. It was weird watching someone get so thoroughly chastised without the scolder uttering a single word.

Once the laughter had died down, Jack answered the question. "Yeah, I’ll be good to go! Is everyone else joining us?"

Aster joined in the conversation now. "I am, but Nick and Sandy always spend Halloween night at the hospital bringing treats to all the sick kids."

"You’re not coming?" Nick asked Aster, looking a little put out at his friend statement.

"I can't do the hospital this year," Aster replied. "In fact, Ana, I've been meaning to ask you – can I tag along with you instead?"

Sandy and Nick frowned as Ana looked at him in surprise and said, "Huh?"

"Sophie's finally old enough to go trick-or-treating and I promised her that I'd take her."

Sandy's face adopted an understanding smile and he gave Aster a thumbs up of approval while Nick said, "Why didn't you tell us sooner?"

"I was a little busy freaking out over a certain comatose friend of ours, in case you forgot. We haven't even talked about taking treats around until now!"

It was true. The gang had just sort-of stopped functioning while they waited for Jack to wake up. The albino looked embarrassed as he realized for what felt the hundredth time just how much he’d worried his friend. "I'm sorry, guys, I didn't mean to…"

"Jackson Nathaniel Frost, don't you dare apologize!"

The look of astonishment on Jack's face sent the other boys into fits of laughter while Ana held back a smile, continuing to fix Jack with a stern glare. "You are not allowed to be sorry for something totally out of your control, understood?"

Jack ignored the question, focusing instead on far more troubling matters. "Where in the world did you learn my full name?"

Aster had an arm propped on the glove compartment with his head leaned against it and he was grinning _evilly_. "At the hospital, _Jackson_."

Sandy held back another fit of laughter as Jack glared at Aster. "You are _never_ to call me that. _Ever_."

Aster's grin grew slightly wider. He'd missed the play fights with Jack more than he cared to admit. "But it's your name."

"No, my name is Jack."

"I think you'll find that's a  _nick_ name."

"Aster," Jack drew out the name, turning it into a whine, "Jackson is an old man's name!"

This just seemed to fuel the Australian’s fun even further. "Then I guess you're an old man, _Jackson_."

A wicked gleam suddenly grew in Ana's eyes. "Well, if you're going to call him by his given name, shouldn't he call you by yours?"

Aster paled and his mocking tone instantly turned deadly serious when he said, "Don't you dare, Ana. That's not fair."

Jack was intrigued. "His name isn't Aster?"

"Oh, it is, but it's his  _middle_  name."

"Ana, come on, please don't."

"Don't what,  _Emerson_?"

Aster hid his face in his hands and groaned as the car filled with laughter. "My stupid mother and her love for that bloody poet. Why'd she have to tell you my name?"

Ana was beaming and Jack gave her a gleefully-appreciative smile as Sandy stopped laughing and pointed to his wrist.

"Sandy's right – we need to get going for class. We're gonna be late!" Nick cried, throwing open the driver's door. The other's followed, not wanting to be late, but as Jack split off from the group and rushed towards the entrance closest to his classroom, he called back to Ana, "Don't worry – I'll be your winter prince tomorrow night!"

* * *

"Come on, Pip! Hurry up!" Jamie was jumping up and down by the door, shouting for his twin. Halloween was finally here and Pippa was soon going to be wasting precious candy gathering time making sure her outfit looked "perfect."

Pippa appeared at the top of the steps, her long brown hair tied back into a neat braid, a white cap perched upon her head, and a knee-length brown dress clinging tightly to her thin frame. "Not all of us are going as something as simple as a mummy, Jamie."

Her brother waved a bandage covered arm at her and said, "Hey, it took a lot of time to get wrapped up in these things."

She rolled her eyes and hurried down the steps to his side. "Well, I'm ready now!"

"Great, let's go!"

At the sound of her children, Mrs. Bennett emerged from the kitchen, "Hold on you two, I need a picture of this before you go."

She rushed to grab her camera as Mr. Bennett came out of his study to admire the costumes and ask, "Now, Claude's older brother will be going with your little group, right?"

The twins nodded and chorused, "Yes!"

He smiled and leaned down to wrap them both in a tight hug. "Good. You both look wonderful!”

Pippa giggled and Jamie grinned before they once again chorus, "Thanks, Dad!"

Mrs. Bennett returned with her camera and the twins positioned themselves for the picture. A flash of light later, the image of the two was immortalized in pixels. "There, now you can go."

Jamie threw open the door, but his mother stopped him, "Wait, don't you need a jacket, honey? It's cold out there!"

Jamie bemoaned the the loss of candy gathering time as his mother made the twins bundle up with a reminder of, "You don't want Jack Frost nipping at your nose."

As soon as the words had left her mouth, a troubled expression crossed Mrs. Bennett's face. It was a saying her mother had always used when she was young and it had just slipped out. Mr. Bennett saw her turmoil and gave his wife a sad smile, but the twins were too excited to notice their parent's sudden change in attitude. Instead, they headed out the door as Pippa replied with a joking, "Don't worry mom, I'm sure Jack Frost has much better things to do than bother us."


	15. Chapter 15

"Pretty!" Sophie twirled around, showing her big brother her outfit and Aster had to work hard to stifle a laugh. His mother had bought the little girl a full, glitter-covered, pink, fairy dress for tonight. Sophie had thrown the costume's neon pink fairy wings on over her favorite pair of pajamas, completely ignoring the dress, and declared herself ready. She looked adorable, but the exasperation on his mother's face was clear.

Instead of trying to get her daughter into the dress, though, Mrs. Wilder simply sighed and gave her son a look that said, "What can you do?"

He shrugged and turned his attention back to tonight's star, declaring “You look beautiful, Sophie," as he picked up the little girl and kissed her cheek.

Sophie giggled. "Sophie’s turn!"

Aster turned his cheek, allowing the little girl to press rosy lips to his tanned skin. At her insistence, he was wearing cowboy style boots, black pants a black gaucho hat, and a black vest over a puffy-white button-up shirt. In other words, a Zorro outfit. Sophie was currently in love with Puss in Boots and this was as close to the sword-wielding cat as Aster was willing to go. "So, Soph, how do I look?"

"Down!" Once she was back on the ground, the child circled her brother, taking in the outfit, before grinning up at him in approval. A camera flash turned Aster's attention back to his mother with a glare.

She merely winked at her annoyed child and took another picture. "It’s the only way I’m going to get a picture of you where you’re not scowling and you know it."

Aster didn't bother to argue about the picture, giving all his attention back to Sophie, smiling down at the two-year-old and offering her his hand.

The little girl placed her tiny palm inside his and allowed her big brother to guide her to the house's front door and out into the night. Trick-or-treating was going to start in about fifteen minutes and it was time to head to Ana's house to meet up with her, Jack, and the minis.

* * *

The Romoli house was bustling with activity as five little girls waited excitedly to go trick-or-treating. The only quiet place was Ana’s room, where Jack was standing before a full-length mirror and staring at himself. A deep blue cloak with a silver snowflake clasp was draped from his shoulders, trailing down to the ground. Tiny frost patters decorated the top of the cape and trailed off where the fabric no longer met skin. On his torso, he wore a form-fitting black V-neck that made his completion seem even paler. Over this shirt was a cobalt-blue vest with more tiny frost decals. His pants were pocketless, tight, and a snowy-winter-sky grey. To complete the ensemble, Ana had draped a sliver chain along his neck, from which hung a smooth piece of blue marble. He looked good. Really good.

"So, what do you think?" Ana asked, wrapping her arms around his torso and peeking over his shoulder.

"It's incredible!" He ran his hands over the soft fabric, impressed with his new look. "I had no idea you were this artistic!"

"Yeah, well, Aster's the painter, North's the carver, Sandy's the composer, and I'm the crafty one."

Jack was going to reply, but Baby and the other little girls burst in on the teens, tired of waiting. It had taken a promise of a story just to get them to allow him to change in the first place. They'd all been worried about Jack ever since they learned he'd been hurt and were reluctant to let him out of their sight. However, instead of crowding around him, they all stopped just inside the door and stared at Jack with wide, matching violet eyes.

Following behind them was a handsome-looking Aster with an adorable little blonde in his arms. He took one look at Jack and let out a low whistle before exclaiming, "Ana, you've outdone yourself."

Sophie was struggling now, wanting to be put down. Aster complied and the little girl ran over to Jack, grabbing his cape and running it through chubby fingers. "Soft!"

Jack chuckled and bent down to Sophie's level. When he’d gotten himself balance, smiled at the new child and held out a hand. "Hello there, you must be Sophie."

Sophie let go of the cloak and stared at Jack, star struck. She reached out and placed a tiny hand on his face, as if making sure he was real, then glanced back at Aster and cried, "Aster, look! Prince!"

Laughter poured from pale lips at this and Jack lightly ruffled the child's hair. "I don't know about being called a prince…"

Baby interrupted now. "No, Ana said that you're the winter prince!"

The other minis chimed in agreement and Jack laughed once more, blushing now. "Okay, I'm the winter prince. I don't have a crown, though."

"Oh, I knew I forgot something!" Ana rushed out of the room, only to return with a sparkling silver circlet. "The girls picked this out for you when we went shopping for their outfits."

She handed Jack the crown and he looked at it for a moment before handing it to Baby and bowing low before her. "Would the princess do me the honor of placing my crown?"

Baby beamed with pleasure and came to stand before Jack as the other girls giggled with excitement. Once she'd placed the circlet, he stood up, allowing Ana to admire the finished outfit. "Better?"

She nodded and the girls grinned in admiration before surrounded Jack, all babbling for his attention. Sophie, still standing by Jack's side, was a little overwhelmed by the noise so Jack scooped her into his arms. She seemed very pleased with this new position and began playing with his pendant while he talked with the rest of his fans.

Knowing they weren’t needed, Ana backed out into the hall and motioned for Aster to follow, which he did, but not without asking, "What's up?"

"Nothing, I just wanted to give Jack some alone time with his fan club. I'm also making you help me get all the trick-or-treat bags together and we’re going to go over the walking route with my folks so they’ll know where to go looking if they need us."

Aster looked back into the room and watched as Jack said something that made Sophie laugh. The little girl seemed perfectly content to stay in Jacks arms, so Aster followed Ana downstairs, knowing his baby sister was in good hands.

* * *

Since coming home from the hospital, Pitch had been the perfect son. His mother was thrilled! Her son was finally starting to be a productive member of society. He'd even volunteered to  _hand out candy_  on Halloween.

Just making the offer had made Pitch nauseous. Here he was, though, answering the door for adorable child after adorable child. Ten minutes down and an eternity to go. This had better play out like he hoped.

Twenty minutes later he was opening the door for five lookalikes in fairy outfits, a little girl in what looked like pajamas, Aster Wilder, Ana Romoli, and a stunning Jack Frost. What in the world was he dressed as?

Pitch smiled shyly and held the candy dish out to the little girls. As they chose their treats, he addressed their escorts, keeping his eyes low. "Hey."

Ana and Aster had adopted uncomfortable smiles, not really sure how to act around Pitch anymore, but Jack was grinning when he asked, "Hey, Pitch. How's your leg?"

Pitch looked up at them now and shrugged, still smiling. "It's not fun, but I'm getting pretty good with the crutches. I think I'm going to try and go to school tomorrow."

Jack frowned, "But doesn't your mom have to be at work by, like, six? How are you going to get there?"

"Walk? Well, with the crutches it's more like hobble, but you know what I mean."

The little girls were getting anxious now, clearly wanting to be off to the next house, so Jack turned to Ana and Aster and said, "Hey, go ahead and go on without me, I'll be right there."

They looked a bit uncomfortable with the idea of abandoning Jack, but the tugs of their charges convinced them to move on. Once they'd left, the conversation continued. "Mr. Overland’s been driving me to school every day. I can probably get him to give you a lift too, if you'd like."

Pitch smiled gratefully. "That would be wonderful, Jack."

"Great! I'll give you a call when I get home!" Jack waved goodbye and hurried off after his pack, his cape flowing behind him. Pitch smiled and waved after the retreating figure as he closed the door. Once Jack could no longer see him, though, the kind smile changed into a satisfied smirk. This was just too easy.

"Mom, I'm a little tuckered out and my leg's hurting. Would you mind if I just went to bed?"

Mrs. Black came out of the kitchen and looked at her son. He certainly looked exhausted. "Of course, sweetie. Are you sure you're going to be okay going to school tomorrow?"

"Don't worry, Jack Frost's foster father is going to give me a lift."

His mother smiled and gave Pitch a firm hug. "It's nice to see you two talking again, but try to keep Jack in line this time. Don't let him get you to be a part of any of those nasty pranks he used to trick you into helping with."

His mother had never bought into the reports that her son was the ringleader, even after the fire. A fact Pitch was eternally thankful for. "It's fine, Mother. I'll make sure Jack learns to follow my example from now on."

* * *

Trick-or-treating was finally over and Aster was carrying a sleeping Sophie tightly in his arms while Jack held her candy bag. The teens were alone now, having left Ana and the minis at the Romoli's house, and were currently taking the sleeping girl home.

"She's really cute," Jack remarked, smiling at Sophie.

Aster leaned down and rubbed his nose against his sleeping sister's. "She's the most adorable thing in the world."

Jack laughed. "I'd never picture you as the doting older brother."

"I wouldn't have either, but then my mom had Sophie. I'd always done all this stuff for kids: Easter egg hunts, collection drives, plays, but I never really spent any time around them. I never got to know them. Sophie changed all that. She's the most important thing in the world now."

Jack smiled softly, his eyes focusing on something Aster couldn't see as he softly said, "Little sisters are the best. They can always make you smile."

Aster didn't say anything. He knew Jack was talking about Pippa now, but Jack didn't know that Aster knew that.

Jack seemed to realize this and he stopped talking. Then he stopped walking and sighed. "You know, I have a little sister."

Aster stopped walking as well and turned around, focusing all his attention on Jack. "Yeah?"

Jack nodded, his frosty eyes focused on the night sky. "Her name's Pippa. She's ten years old now, but she loves to act all grown up. Why do kids do that anyway? Childhood ends so fast! They should enjoy it!"

A chilly breeze whipped past the boys and Sophie shivered. Jack noticed the motion out of the corner of his eye and shook his head. "Come on, we should get her home."

They continued on once more and Aster remained silent, waiting to follow Jack's lead, but the pale teen said nothing and they’d soon reached the Wilder home where Jack rang the doorbell. The door was quickly answered by Mr. Wilder, who took his sleeping daughter from his son’s arms and said, "I'll go put her to bed."

Normally, Aster would offer to do it himself, but he sensed Jack wanted him to stay. "Okay, I'm going to walk some of the way home with Jack."

"Why don't you two take the car? It's getting pretty cold out there and those costumes can't be too warm."

"Thanks, Dad." Aster replied, sounding relieved at the opportunity to avoid being out in the cold any longer.

* * *

The resulting car ride was unusually quiet and, by the time Aster had turned onto Jack’s street, the Australian had pretty much decided that Jack wasn’t ready to talk yet. About five seconds later, though, Jack started talking, "I guess you guys have probably figured out that the Overland's aren't my real parents by now, haven't you?"

Aster remained quiet and kept his eyes focused on the road as Jack leaned his head against the window and stared into the darkness. "I should have told you this a while ago, but I… I just didn't know if I could trust you. After what happened, though, I don't know how I could  _not_  trust you."

Sensing this wasn’t going to be a short talk, Aster pulled over to the side of the road by a tiny park and shut off the car. "Alright, so tell."

Jack chuckled softly and kept his gaze focused out into the night as he said, "I don't really know where to start, but I guess the fire’s as good a place as any."

"I was ten years old and my family was living in Burgess. It was a terribly cold night, so cold that my dad decided to light a fire in the living room hearth for a little extra warmth. He'd done it a thousand times before, but something went wrong this time. Instead of dying out after we'd gone to bed, some of the embers flew onto the newspaper my mother had left lying nearby. At least, that's what the firemen said…

 "Anyway, they caught fire and soon the whole room was engulfed in flames.

We probably would have all died that night, but my mom must have gotten thirsty or something, because I woke up to her shaking me awake. She looked so scared, but her voice was steady. She had me slip on shoes and follow her to the twin's bedroom. Jamie and Pippa, my baby brother and sister… they were only three years old. She picked up Pippa and I carried Jamie piggyback out of the house.

“We got outside before the fire had spread too far, but my dad wasn't there. He'd always been a heavy sleeper… My mom put down Pippa and told me to watch the twins until she got back, then she rushed into the house.

"It was three in the morning, no one was awake and I didn't know what to do, so I sat there and held the twins and waited. We were still waiting when the firemen finally arrived. Someone must have seen the flames and called 911, but it was too late. My parents were gone."

Jack was still staring into the night and Aster felt like he was going to be sick. What a way to go.

"They took us to the hospital, but we were all fine. Jamie and Pippa didn't know what was going on, though. They were so scared. They kept crying and asking for parents that were never going to come. A few days later, a smiling couple, the Bennetts, came to see us in our hospital room. I knew them. They lived a few streets over and the woman had always told my mother how cute the twins were when we were out for a walk, but she never even glanced at me. I should have known then that they were there for the twins and not me, but I didn’t. I found out that was the case soon enough, though. I remember Pippa sobbing when they took her away from me. She thought I was never going to come back, too. I didn't even fight to stay with them. I was still trying to wake up from the nightmare.

"The Overlands came for me the next day and I went home with them. Those first couple of days I just lay in my new room, wishing I were dead. Wishing that I'd run to a neighbor's house and called for help. It took a long time before I was willing to do anything more than the basics to keep myself alive and I needed prompting to do even those."

Aster wasn't sure what he was supposed to do. If Jack had been a child, he would have wrapped him in his arms, but Jack wasn't a child and Aster was lost.

"Even when I started to move around again I wasn't really living. It was mostly an act. Get up, go to school, do homework, sleep, smile. I didn't even try to make friends at my new school. If I made new friends, that meant that I was acknowledging my new life, admitting this was real, and I wasn't ready for that. It got me labeled a loner and I lost any chance I had at making friends when I finally woke up from my stupor."

Jack turned back to Aster with a sheepish smile on his face. "Boy, am I a killjoy or what?"

Aster gulped and just said the first thing that came to mind. "No, you're probably the most joyful person I know. No one else could tell a story like that and still have a smile on his face."

Jack laughed, though there wasn’t much substance to it. "I have a lot of practice at smiling no matter what the situation is.”

He leaned back in the car's seat and closed his eyes with a sigh. "We've been here for ten minutes already and I haven't even gotten to the point of this little story of mine."

Aster shrugged. "It's not like I've got anything to do tonight. I'll listen as long as you'd like me to."

Jack didn't open his eyes, but he smiled at this. "Alright then, I'll hold you to that. There isn't much more to tell anyway.

"Let’s see, I told you how the twins were living with the Bennetts and that I was living with the Overlands, so let’s talk about what happened with that. At first, I still got to see the twins from time to time. The Overlands would take me to visit every weekend, but it wasn't a good thing. The first time we went, a part of me thought that it would be like nothing had changed. Pippa would be demanding I play dress up with her and Jamie would be begging me to tell him a story. It wasn't. The twins started crying as soon as they saw me.

"Week after week I visited and week after week they'd sit there and cry. I realized pretty fast that, if I really wanted my siblings to be happy, I'd have to make their fear come true. I'd have to disappear from their lives. So I did.

"I gave up visiting Jamie and Pippa and they forgot they had a big brother." Jack was still smiling, but his voice was clearly strained when he said, "The only problem is, I can't forget that I am one."

Silence fell once more as Aster tried to figure out what to say, but Jack was the one to speak first.

"Aster?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks for listening."

Aster swallowed hard. "Jack, I…"

"You don't need to do anything." Jack was looking at him now, smiling and totally calm. "You listened and that's all I could ever ask."

Aster gave his friend a small smile. "Thanks for trusting me enough to share."

Jack heaved a huge sighed and started to chuckle and the chuckles quickly turned to full-on laughter. Laughter that was strangely infectious and, soon, Aster was shaking with mirth as well.

When the duo calmed down enough for Aster to finally drive Jack the remaining feet to his house, both teens were smiling and talking about the Christmas fair, the depressing emotions of their talk driven away by laughter.


	16. Chapter 16

"Morning, Pitch." Mr. Overland's welcome was warm, but his grip on the steering wheel had tightened the moment Pitch had stepped out of the house. He wasn't very happy that the ebony-haired youth was back in his foster son's life, but after what had happened to the two teens, he couldn't bring himself to try and keep the kid away from Jack.

"Good morning, Mr. Overland, and thank you for the ride," Pitch answered politely, inclining his head slightly as he got into the car. The crutches and cast made it a little difficult, but Jack helped him and he was soon seated and buckled in.

Mr. Overland ignored his gut reaction to tell Pitch to get out, pulled out of the driveway instead and started towards the school as he asked, "So, Pitch, any luck finding your bike?"

"No, nothing. It's alright, though, my dad's going to get me a new car to replace it." Pitch had wanted another motorcycle, but even his overly-indulgent father had been unwilling to grant him another vehicle that was "so easy to attack him on."

Pitch had wanted to shout into the phone, "I wasn't attacked, you idiot," but he'd restrained himself and meekly accepted the gift.

Ever since Mr. Black had left his wife fifteen years ago, he'd spoiled his son rotten. Pitch rarely ever saw the man, not that he cared to, but was constantly showered with expensive toys and gadgets. He knew that, if he so chose, he could go and live with Mr. Black and leave his mother alone with a simple call to his father’s lawyers. They wouldn’t even need to go to court since the judge had said it was his choice when he reached the age of twelve.

He liked living with his mother, though. The woman was an insipid twit who believed everything he said and who was desperate to keep him happy so that he didn't leave her, too. It was a good life.

"A new car, huh?" The disbelief in Mr. Overland's voice was hard to miss, but Jack didn't even seem fazed at the news. He was used to Pitch getting fancy stuff all the time.

"Yeah, probably some brand of Jaguar. It'll be here in a week or so and I won't know what kind it is until then." But it had better be black and  _fast_.

Mr. Overland nodded mutely, still coming to terms with the ridiculous opulence of it all, and finished the rest of the drive in silence. When he pulled into the school parking lot, Jack helped Pitch exit the vehicle before telling his foster father, "Thanks for the lift."

Mr. Overland smiled at his foster son, hoping that things would be different this time since Jack finally had more than one friend, and waved goodbye as the two teens started across the parking lot.

The gang was waiting in the sleigh, as always, but they weren't really sure what to do as Jack and Pitch walked across the blacktop. Aster and Ana weren't surprised to see the troublemaker arrive with Jack, but Nick and Sandy hadn't yet heard about this latest development. Seeing their friends' clear confusion, Ana quickly explained the previous night's events and how Jack had offered Pitch a ride to school.

When she had finished, Nick spoke. "Well, I guess we only have one choice."

Without further ado, he threw open the door and called out to the pair, "Hey, are you two going to join us in the warmth or not?"

Aster, Ana, and Sandy stared at Nick in shock. What was he thinking? Pitch was their  _enemy_. After last Christmas, they'd assumed Nick would be the least likely to want the arsonist around, too.

Pitch looked pleasantly surprised at the invite, but inside he was giddy with joy. It was working! He was so excited he almost missed Jack saying, "What do you say, wanna hang out with them?"

Pitch nodded, making sure he looked shy and nervous as they neared the cherry-red jeep. Sandy gave Ana a helpless shrug and opened his door, climbing out and helping Pitch into the car while Ana took the teen's crutches from him and put them into the storage area in the back. When Sandy went to get back in the car, Aster asked if he wanted to sit in the front’s middle seat, and Sandy happily took him up on the offer.

Once the seating rearrangements had finished, the gang exchanged uncertain glances. None of them knew what to say and only Jack looked comfortable.

Unsurprisingly, it was him who broke the silence. "So, how was your hospital event?"

Relieved to have a topic of conversation, Nick began to tell them all about the hospital gift-giving, with Sandy nodding and stopping him when he forgot something. Pitch didn't say a word, content just to be inside of the Jeep for now.

When it came time for the group to go to classes, he graciously thanked Nick for letting him join them. Though the massive teen seemed a bit uncomfortable, he accepted the thanks and told Pitch he was welcome to join them any time he liked.

Pitch was elated. Step one, completed.

* * *

"Nick, what are you thinking?" Aster asked as the duo walked to their second-period class. It was clear that the Australian was more than a little annoyed over that morning's Pitch incident. "Giving him a lift home from the hospital was just being nice, but you're making him a part of the group!"

"I don't know, what was I supposed to do? Invite Jack in and leave Pitch to go into the building on his own? I couldn't make Jack choose between us and Pitch."

"Yeah, you could have!"

Nick stopped and grabbed Aster's shoulder, making him turn so that they were facing each other. "Do you really think Jack is going to choose us over Pitch?"

"Well, yeah! Don't you have any faith in him?"

"I have faith that Jack is an incredibly kind soul and wouldn't abandon Pitch to solitude. I'm not saying that Jack would pick Pitch over us for friends, but I can't see him leaving Pitch alone to come and hang out with us."

And suddenly Aster got it. "You did it for Jack?"

"Of course I did it for Jack!"

Aster ran a hand through his hair and shook his head. "Sorry, mate, I didn't realize."

Nick winked and started off down the hallway towards their class once more and Aster followed behind him, still thinking about the Pitch issue. He didn't like the freaky teen, in fact he pretty much detested him, but he'd seen how Jack affected him. Pitch cared about Jack. Would it really be  _that_  terrible to give the guy a chance for Jack's sake? After all, he hadn't wanted to give Jack a chance, and now the snowy-haired albino was probably his best friend.

Aster sighed, why couldn’t things go smoothly for once?

* * *

The next morning Pitch once again came to school with Jack and he once again sat with the gang. This time, he shyly joined in the conversation, even making Nick laugh with a joke. The gang had no clue every word the teen uttered had been practiced ad infinitum the night before. Pitch was exactly where he'd been hoping to be, but he had to play the situation carefully. Very carefully.

When they parted ways to go to class, he thanked Nick once again for letting him join the Jeep crew and headed to class with a pleased smile on his face. They really were idiots.

* * *

Sandy was sitting in study hall, working on the slides for a group presentation he and Ana had to give in their history class next week, while Ana ignored the task at hand and ranted about that morning. "…a no good jerk! I mean, he almost ruined the play last year!"

Sandy raised his eyebrows and looked calmly at Ana.

"Yeah, I know Jack was part of that, but he…" She searched for the right words. It was true: Jack had helped steal and try to burn the props. Even if Pitch had been the ringleader, there wasn't really much she could say to defend those actions. "…we know him now!"

Sandy nodded, smiled, and waited for her to continue.

"I mean, we may not know Pitch very well either, but, but… He's Pitch! He used to pull my hair in kindergarten!"

Sandy was trying very hard not to laugh now as Ana realized just how silly she sounded.

"Okay, okay, okay, I get it. We gave Jack a chance; why not Pitch?"

Sandy bobbed his head and went back to working on the presentation while Ana sat there and silently brooded. He almost jumped out of his seat when she broke the silence with a loud declaration of "That doesn't mean I have to  _like_  giving him a chance!"

* * *

"Pitch can join the group."

Jack started and looked up from his book. The rest of the gang was standing on the other side of the table, arms crossed, looking like they'd just made a huge decision. "Huh?"

"Pitch can join the group," Nick reiterated.

"But I didn't even ask you guys about that yet."

Aster rolled his eyes and sat down by Jack. "Yeah, but you were gonna, right?"

"Probably, but not for a while."

The others sat down around Jack, and Ana spoke now. "Jack, we're not big Pitch fans. You know that, but you're our friend and he's yours."

Aster threw an arm around Jack's shoulder and smirked as he said, "So we'll give him a shot for your sake, Frostbite."

Jack smiled. "Thanks, guys."

A loud rumble came from Nick's stomach breaking the serious aura that had surrounded the group. "Alright, I need food."

The others laughed. They'd been so caught up with the Pitch issue that they'd forgotten to get food, so they left Jack to his book and went back into the cafeteria. Before he could start reading again, though, Pitch made his way through the doors that led to the classrooms. He looked exhausted.

Jack jumped up and went over to help his friend to the table. Once Pitch was seated and had caught his breath he treated Jack to an annoyed smile. "I really should have thought a bit more before I went and broke my leg."

Jack laughed. "Yeah, because you had a choice in the matter."

Pitch laughed, too, mostly in amusement at Jack’s stupidity. "Fair enough. Where's the rest of 'Team Helpful'?"

"Getting lunch. By the way, what do you think of them?"

"Well, as much as I still think they're a bunch of try-hards, I have to admit, they're nice try-hards."

"Hey! Didn't you promise me that you'd try hard yourself?"

Pitch had to think about it for a moment. "I guess I did, but I'm not exactly welcome to the group. One powwow in a Jeep doesn't a friend make, Jack."

"Maybe not,” Jack countered, “but it does make an impression."

Pitch was curious now. Was Jack really about to ask him what he thought he was?

"And you made a good one." Jack had an elbow rested against the cover of his book while his head was perched against his hand and he was giving Pitch a knowing grin. "The gang said they'd give you a chance if you'd like."

"Really?" The shock was genuine. It was that easy?

"Yeah! I think the whole almost-dying thing made them a bit more willing to consider you for membership."

Pitch was thrilled. Oh, this was going better than he'd dared to dream! "I think that would be fun. I know I've got a lot to make up for, though."

The gang emerged from the cafeteria, lunch trays in hands, and joined Pitch and Jack at the table. Pitch smiled softly at them, the picture of an excited and hopeful teen when he said, "Jack told me you guys were willing to let me help you."

Aster nodded and took his seat, still not 100% sure this was a good idea, but the others were less hesitant. Sandy smiled at Pitch and sat down beside him as Nick slapped the dark haired teen on the back before sitting down by Aster and saying, "An extra pair of hands is always welcome!"

Ana sat by Nick and looked to the crutches now propped against the table. "I'm not sure how much help you'll be able to give with those, though."

"It's true that can't do anything for a while, but they'll be gone by the time the fair comes! I only have to wear the cast for six weeks and it's already been almost two. I get the cast off the first week of December."

"Just in time for the fair!" Jack exclaimed, beaming.

Pitch nodded. "Exactly."

"Well then, welcome to the team," Aster said, biting back a frown.

And that was it. Pitch was in.

The rest of lunch was uneventful, mostly consisting of the gang telling Pitch all about the fair and what they'd done so far. The dark-haired teen just listed for the most part, only occasionally asking questions and offering suggestions, but by the time it was time to head off to their next classes, the gang had discovered that Pitch had a lot of good ideas. If only they had known about the ideas he  _wasn't_  sharing.


	17. Chapter 17

Once school had let out for the day, the gang piled into the sleigh and headed off to Nick's house as Jack asked, "So, what's today's plan."

"Same old, same old," the driver replied. "Tomorrow, though, we've got a lot of work to do."

"What's going on tomorrow?"

"I'm borrowing my dad's truck and we're driving a bunch of the booths into Burgess for storage."

"Correction," Ana interrupted, "You, Aster, and possibly Jack are taking the booths into Burgess. Sandy and I have a history project to finish."

Aster scoffed, "Not like you're much help at heavy lifting anyway."

Sandy shrugged, unphased, as Ana stuck her tongue out at Aster.

Aster simply smirked back at her, refusing to resort to childish retorts.

Ana’s response to this was to cross her arms and treat him to a mock glare.

As the duo continued their battle, Jack leaned his head against the car window and thought,  _It's the little things that make you appreciate being alive_.

* * *

"It's so wonderful to see you hanging out with those nice kids instead of just Jack, sweetheart."

Pitch smiled pleasantly and nodded. "Yes, mother. They're awfully nice."

His mother beamed and continued to babble on about how wonderful it was that he was hanging out with the try-hards as Pitch let his thoughts drown her out. He was in now, but that was just step two of the plan and it’d only happened because of Jack. He had to get the gang to really trust him if he wanted this to work out. When he got home, he'd have to give his father a call about donating some funds to a certain children's fair. That was certain to get him on Ana's good side at the very least.

* * *

Aster snuggled up under the covers, enjoying their warmth, and willed himself to go back to sleep. His body needed to stop getting up this early on days when he didn't have school. The sound of a doorbell ringing echoed through the house, but he just groaned and threw a pillow over his head to drown out the noise.

Downstairs, Mrs. Wilder rushed to answer the door with Sophie at her heels. When they opened it, Sophie was delighted to find her new friend Jack waiting there. The albino was rosy cheeked from the cold walk, dressed in blue jeans, and sporting a thick, navy-blue winter jacket.

"Good morning, ma'am," he said politely. Then his frosty eyes caught sight of the little girl clinging to her mother's leg and a smile spread over his face. "Morning, Soph!"

Taking the greeting as an invitation, Sophie let go of her mother and rushed into the chilly air to give Jack a hug. The teen immediately picked her up while scolding, "It is far too cold outside for little girls to be running around without shoes!" and entered the house as Mrs. Wilder held the door open wide for his entry.

The scolding just made Sophie giggle as Jack set her down and took off his coat. Once he'd hung it up on the coat rack, he asked, "Is Aster awake yet?"

"No, I'm afraid he's still in bed, but you're more than welcome to wake him up."

Jack grinned mischievously and looked down at the toddler who was standing by his side. "So, Sophie, wanna go and wake up that lazy brother of yours?"

She nodded eagerly and took Jack's offered hand, leading him through the house to Aster's room.

While this exchange was taking place, Aster had happily drifted back into dreamland, letting the pillow fall off of his head. As he dreamed of sunny weather and spring, Jack and Sophie snuck into the room.

The toddler was full of anticipation. She loved waking up Aster, but Jack was more wary as he took in the scene before him and tried to decide on their attack plan. He stopped scanning the room when his eyes found Aster's sleeping form.

He'd never seen the younger teen look so peaceful.

The caramel-haired Australian was wrapped tightly in spring-green sheets, a happy smile on his face, and his body was totally relaxed. It seemed a shame to wake him up, but they had things to do today.

Then Sophie tugged at Jack's leg, breaking him out of his contemplations. She was looking up at him, eagerly waiting for her instructions.

Jack glanced from her to Aster and then realized he knew _exactly_ how to wake his sleeping friend up. As an evil smirk spread across his face, he leaned down and whispered into her ear, telling her what to do. The toddler giggled quietly and waited until Jack finished speaking before nodding to show she understood, then she moved into position.

"ATTACK!"

Aster's eyes shot open at the loud noise while his world began to wobble around like a ship at sea. The source of the vibrations was quickly found, though. Jack and Sophie were jumping on his bed. Great.

"Get off!" He roared.

Jack grinned and complied, but Sophie continued to jump. Her tiny body didn't do much, but it was enough to guarantee that Aster wasn't going to be comfortable staying in his current spot.

After letting out an annoyed moan, he threw off the covers, aiming to hit his attacker, but Sophie jumped off the bed before the flying sheets could hit her. As soon as her little feet hit the floor, she ran to her cranky brother's side and hugged his leg.

Aster, who had been about to launch into a tirade at his grinning friend, bit his tongue instead and picked up the young child. He wasn't going to yell with her there. Jack had been very wise to bring Sophie along to wake him up and Aster knew that wasn't a happy accident, but a strategic maneuver.

Since he couldn't yell, he opted to treat Jack to a menacing glare instead.

Jack was thoroughly unintimidated by the look and let out a short laugh before saying, "Morning, sunshine!"

Then he walked over to his scowling friend and wrapped an arm around Aster's bare shoulder. The Australian teen always slept shirtless, but his lower half was covered in thick, camo pajama pants. "Now, how about I take that little angel off of your hands and you get some clothing on? We've got a lot of work to do today!"

Aster growled deep in his throat, sounding almost feral, but gave Sophie to Jack. As she was being passed off, Sophie leaned over and kissed her brother's cheek. Though he was still supremely annoyed, the action made Aster smile.

When the toddler removed her lips from his tanned skin, she leaned against Jack's chest and waggled a finger at her brother while her face became very serious. "No be mad! Aster smile!"

He laughed, his annoyance evaporating, and ran his fingers through sleep tasseled hair. "Okay, Soph. I'll be nice."

She nodded, approving of Aster's promise, and allowed Jack to take her into the hallway. Once the door had closed behind them, Aster let out a tired yawn and opened up his closet. What to wear?

* * *

After Aster had finally decided on baggy grey cargo pants and a blue t-shirt, both of which were covered in paint splashes, he exited the room to find Jack and Sophie. The two were in the family's TV room and Sophie was showing Jack her doll house. The snowy-haired teen was happily playing the part of the plastic family's father while Sophie played everyone else.

Aster leaned in the doorway, watching as his best friend and little sister played. Jack was constantly making Sophie giggle and laugh with the silly voices he'd give to the plastic man and Sophie's childish grasp of words made for interesting dialog from her characters.

He was just debating filming some of the scene on his phone when Sophie noticed him and set down her dolls before running to greet him with a hug.

As the Wilder siblings embraced, Jack rose to his feet and said, "Nice to see you didn't fall back asleep on us."

Aster gave him a mock glare over Sophie's shoulder before winking and smiling back. "Ready to get going?"

"Yep!"

The duo bid goodbye to Sophie and went to find Mr. Wilder, their ride out to Nick's. They soon located him in the kitchen, finishing up his breakfast, and after a quick exchange of pleasantries, the three men left the house and piled into Mr. Wilder's car to begin their trip.

* * *

"Bye, dad!"

"Thanks again, Mr. Wilder!"

The pair waved as their ride turned around in the St. North's driveway and began to head back to town. Only when the car vanished from their sight did they turned around and headed straight to the workshop in the back. Jack had begun to avoid entering Nick's house whenever possible and Aster couldn't blame him. Mrs. St. North seemed determined to make Jack eat his weight in food every time that she saw him.

In the workshop, they found Nick working on another booth. They'd already finished ten of them, but they needed at least fifteen for all the different activities.

The draft of cold air the boys brought with them caught Nick's attention and he looked up. When he saw his friends, he turned off the saw and called out, "Morning! Ready to head out?"

"Yep!" the two chorused, waiting in the doorway as Nick grabbed his coat from the back of a nearby chair and joined them.

"My dad left the four seater truck in the garage. Come on."

He led them around the house to a side door, which he opened with an old-fashioned key. Inside was a messy garage lined with tool boxes, hunting gear, skis, ice skates, snowshoes, shovels, and other winter gear. In the center of the clutter was an emerald green truck with a Christmas wreath attached to the front grill.

"Your family really lives for Christmas, don't they?" Jack asked, amused at the truck's ornament.

Nick shrugged as he opened the garage door. "It's my folks' favorite holiday, so I've just grown up loving it, too. Now, do you want to get in the truck or just wait for me to pull it around?"

"We might as well just wait," Aster said, warily eyeing the vehicle. "We're just gonna get right out to load it."

"Suit yourselves!" Nick replied, jumping into the truck and firing the ignition before driving it out of the garage and through the yard to stand by the workshop. Once he'd turned off the engine, Jack and Aster joined him. Then, together, they loaded the finished booths into the truck bed, carefully placing a layer of old cloths between and around each one to ensure they survived the trip unscathed.

After the truck had been packed, Nick secured the load with several bungee cords and ran inside to let his parents know they were heading off while Aster and Jack got into the truck's cab.

"You gonna be okay going into Burgess?" Aster asked.

Jack nodded, but looked confused. "I've done it a thousand times before, why would this time be any different?"

"Well, you know, after what happened with you and Pitch…"

Jack was quiet for a bit before replying. "That didn't even happen in Burgess."

The statement seemed more of a question, as if Jack wasn't sure if that was true. For some reason, a memory of his parents' grave had flashed through his mind at the comment, but he didn't know where it came from. The events of that day were still lost to him.

He could feel a headache starting to build, so he shook his head, knocking the memories from his thoughts, and grinned at his worried looking friend. He was going to say something to reassure the artist, but then Nick exited the house and joined them in the truck. The time to talk about serious things was past.

After making sure that the others couldn't think of anything they were forgetting, Nick backed through the snow-covered lawn and onto the road while asking the other if they'd like to listen to the Trans-Siberian Orchestra or his father's Christmas mix.

* * *

When they arrived at the rec center, Nick and Jack stayed in the truck while Aster ran inside to find Mr. Kaufman, who had promised to be there to meet them.

While they waited, Jack leaned forward from his seat in the back and asked, "Shouldn't we start to get to booths out of the back?"

"Nah," Nick answered. "We're going to be putting them into the shed when they get back and we'll just drive the truck there."

"The shed?"

Nick pointed through the window, across the rec center's soccer field, to a stone hut on the other side. "Aster uses it to store his Easter baskets and such during the year, but there's a lot of empty space."

A few minutes later, Aster exited the building and rejoined them in the truck. "He gave me the keys and told me to just bring them back to him when we're done."

"Fair enough," Nick replied and pulled onto the field. He drove along the edge to avoid damaging the ground, but the cold weather had hardened it enough that even the heavy truck didn't leave more than the slightest dent in the snow-covered earth.

As they got closer, Jack realized that the shed was a surprisingly large, two-story structure, about the size of a small garage. It even had a chimney!

"What is this thing?" he asked, clearly puzzled by the odd building. He vaguely remembered his parents using it for some form of storage years ago when they'd thrown children's events of their own, but he didn't remember much about it.

"Well, it used to be some form of caretaker's hut back when there was an inn here, but the inn burned down years ago and it was left to rot. It was restored back when they built the rec center and now it's just a storage shed. It's still got the old fire place, though," Aster explained as he jumped out of the car and unlocked the building. The inside was lined with shelves of wicker baskets and a couple of bins filled with croquet sets as well as other summer sports equipment. Jack could see an old fireplace behind one of the shelves, but it clearly hadn't been used in a long time.

Once they'd figured out the best place to store their cargo, the boys unloaded the booths into the shed, leaning them against the shelves. It was hard work and it took them a good hour to unload everything and make sure it was all well-secured.

After they'd finished, they drove back to the rec center and went inside to give back the key and thank Mr. Kaufman for letting them store the booths. When they got to his office, though, they couldn't seem to open the door.

Nick tried to turn the brass knob again, but the office was clearly locked. "I guess he's somewhere else."

A knowing grin crossed Aster's face and he started off down the hallway, motioning for the others to follow. "Come on, I've got a hunch where we'll find him."

The trio moved out of the offices and into the main portion of the building. They passed through a huge basketball court with rock-climbing walls along its edges and entered into a hallway that had doors leading to a racquetball court, a wrestling room, and some locker rooms. At the end of the hallway was a red door that was currently hanging open and it was through this that Aster lead them.

On the other side of the door was a large, chilly room with metal bleachers lining the edges of an elliptical wall of transparent plastic.

Inside the plastic was an ice rink on which Mr. Kaufman was happily skating in a simple circle. He noticed the boys almost immediately and skated to a door in the plastic, which he then pushed open and used it to exit the rink while he happily greeted his visitors. "Hello there, boys. I'm just testing out the ice before we open for the day. Care to join me?"

"We don't exactly have skates," Aster started to say, more than ready to refuse the offer, but Nick had other plans.

"We'd love to! Would you mind lending us some from the shop?"

Mr. Kaufman beamed and made his way over to a door in the room's wall. He passed through it and disappeared from their sight for a moment before another portion of the wall slid open, revealing rows of ice skates behind a counter. Once the partition was fully open, he said, "Now, what sizes are you three?"

Nick gleefully got a set of size ten skates while Aster reluctantly accepted a pair of size twelves. Jack, however, hadn't moved from the entryway. He was too busy staring at the rink.

"Jack, are you going to join us, or what?" Nick asked as he finished lacing his skates and noticed for the first time the white-haired teen’s frozen stance.

Jack took a deep breath and walked over to the window where Mr. Kaufman was waiting. "I'm a size seven."

The man smiled and retrieved a pair of snow white skates for the teen. "Here you go, Jack."

Jack nodded, hands trembling lightly, and took the skates. While Nick forced Aster onto the ice, Jack carefully removed his shoes and put on the ice skates. It felt strange to have them on once again.

Then he stood up, watching as Aster shakily moved along the ice with a chuckling Nick gliding by his side who was boastfully promising, "Don't worry, Aster, I'll catch you if you fall."

The Australian gave his friend a peeved glare and picked up his speed a bit. "I am perfectly fine, thank you. I don't need to be caught."

Just then, his balance failed him, and Aster fell back onto the ice, much to Nick's amusement. " _Sure_  you don't."

Scowling, Aster allowed Nick to help him to his feet.

While this exchange had been taking place, Jack had moved to the edge of the rink, staring at the ice before him. Mr. Kaufman, who’d removed his own skates by now and come out to join the boys, walked to Jack’s side and asked, "Are you alright, son?"

Jack took a shaky breath and nodded. "Yeah, just taking it slowly."

Mr. Kaufman placed an arm around Jack's shoulders. The man was a little taller than Jack, but the skates made them of an equal height. "If you've retained even a fraction of your previous skills, Jackson, you're going to have no trouble."

Then he winked at the teen and Jack bobbed his head before stepping onto the ice. Aster and Nick had stopped skating to watch Jack and make sure he was okay. They hadn't heard the quiet conversation between the man and their friend, though, so nothing had prepared them for what happened next.

Jack’s first move was a wobbly one, almost toppling him, but he didn't fall. He cautiously pushed out with his left foot, grinding it against the ice, giving himself a small burst of speed. Then he mirrored the motion with his right foot, moving slightly faster. Back and forth, back and forth he pushed against the ice, flying by his watching friends and moving so fast he was that he was little more than a blur of blue.

Jack was laughing now and feeling a little daring, so he made a tiny jump. It was only a few inches into the air, but the landing was perfect and adrenalin flooded his system. He picked up a bit more speed and tried again, this time jumping half a foot into the air. It was like riding a bicycle! Skills gained from years spent skating were rushing back now and he threw caution to the wind.

Jack sped up as fast as he could go and leapt into the air, pulling his arms into an x shape across his chest and pulling his feet close together as his body spun in two full circles. Then he opened his legs again and uncrossed his arms, using them as a balance when his skates smoothly reconnected with the surface of the ice.

It was a simple rotation, the first jump he'd ever learned, but it felt  _exhilarating_  to do it again.


	18. Chapter 18

When Jack first took to the ice, his friends had watched to make sure he wasn't going to fall. As the first wobbly step transformed into a smooth glide and he quickly picked up speed, the worry was replaced with admiration. Then he'd done the first little jump and Nick begun to worry once more. He'd been skating for a long time and still had trouble landing little jumps. He turned to Aster to tell his friend he was going to go and stop Jack before he hurt himself, only to see the Australian's green eyes widen with shock. Nick turned back around and stared as Jack pulled off an incredibly skilled rotation.

The two watched in shocked silence as Jack did another jump, this time landing so that he was skating backwards. The only sound in the room was his laughter as he gracefully skated around the rink, finally coming to a halt in front of the shocked duo. His laughter only grew stronger at the looks on their faces and soon he was doubled over, but somehow still standing.

The sound of clapping suddenly filled the rink and Jack stopped laughing as the three boys turned to see Mr. Kaufman sitting on the bleachers, fiercely applauding.

"Jack, that was lovely," he called.

Jack grinned and gave his audience a low bow. When he brought his head back up, his frosty eyes were shinning with excitement. "Wanna see me try something really neat?"

Mr. Kaufman shook his head. "No, Jack, I want you to come here."

Curious, the snowy-haired youth skated to the rink's exit and walked across the floor to where the older man was waiting. Mr. Kaufman motioned for Jack so sit down beside him, which he did. Aster, with Nick's help, skated to the rink's edge as well, intent on getting off this frozen death trap and joining them. Seeing the other teens coming, Mr. Kaufman whispered to Jack, "What I'm going to say to you has to do with your past. Would you like me to ask the others to leave?"

Jack shook his head. Aster already knew and it was about time Nick was told. "No, I think I'd like them to hear as well."

Mr. Kaufman smile fondly at Jack, glad to see the boy was letting the others in, and nodded.

When the duo reached the bleachers, Aster plopped down by Jack's side and immediately beginning to unlace his skates saying, "Humans were not meant to play on ice."

Jack grinned and nudged his friend's side. "I seem to be able to pull it off."

Aster pursed his lips as he worked at the well-done knot of his left skate. "That is because you are a ruddy showoff whose goal in life is to break rules."

Jack laughed and Nick took a seat on Aster's other side, turning his head to look at Jack. "Where did you learn to skate like that?"

“Here, actually,” Jack replied.

"And that’s part of the reason I called you over here to tell you something. Well, it's more of what I'd like to show you, really. Why don't you boys follow Aster's lead and take off those skates? They're hard to walk in outside of the rink."

The teens followed the suggestion and, once the skates were gone, Mr. Kaufman led them along the edges of the rink to a small glass trophy case against the far wall. Inside the case was a wooden carving of a pair of ice skates surrounded by a series of framed pictures. Each picture was an image of Jack's parents and, along the bottom of the case, the words "Gone but not forgotten" were carved in an elegant, cursive script.

Mr. Kaufman motioned to the case, smiling at the surprise on Jack's face. "I wanted to show you this. A few of your parents' old friends paid for it and I was more than happy to allow them to place it here."

Jack gazed at the images. The first one was an image of him and his parents, taken several years before Jamie and Pippa’s birth. The second one showed his mother and father painting some sort of structure, probably something for the summer fair. Despite the fact that they were clearly hard at work, both of them were smiling and laughing. The third image showed Emma, Jack's mother, standing on a stage with a microphone in her hand. Though you couldn't tell by just looking at the image, Jack knew she was singing when it had been taken. The final image showed Jack's father, spinning through the air on ice skates, far above a glassy surface of ice.

A few weeks ago, Jack would have taken one look at these images and run away. Now, though, he smiled and turned his gaze to Mr. Kaufman, bowing his head lightly. "Thank you."

Nick and Aster watched this interaction take place, unsure what they were supposed to do, but Jack soon answered that question. With a grand gesture he waved to the case and said, "Gentlemen, my parents."

They moved forward to get a better look into the case and Nick pointed at the figure skates. "So, your dad was a figure skater?"

Jack looked lovingly at the wooden carving and nodded. "Yeah, he taught me everything I know. Before I was born he used to compete, but by the time I came around, he was happy just to teach me."

He pointed to the image of his mother and continued. "And my mom was an incredible singer! She was always singing…"

His voice trailed off as he looked at the four images. Then he sighed and said, "I'd better start at the beginning, huh?"

Nick, Aster, and Mr. Kaufman stood, listening in silence, as Jack told them about his family. He began with losing them, glossing over the fire and not even touching on what happened to the twins, then he moved backwards in time to before they died.

"I can still remember the first time my dad took me skating. It's probably my first memory," Jack explained. "It was at this very rink. He'd bought me a pair of snow white ice skates for my third birthday and we came here to try them out. He laced them onto my little feet and guided me out onto the ice. There must have been a bunch of other skaters here, but to me, it seemed like it was just us.

"I was so scared of falling, but dad held onto my arms and kept me upright. His steady voice told me just what to do. I remember when he let go of me for the first time. I begged him not to, but he told me I had to at least try to do it on my own and promised he wouldn't let me fall. He kept that promise and soon I was flying across that ice with him by my side."

Jack chuckled, his eyes closed as he lost himself in the memory, "Though I doubt I was even going half as fast as it felt like I was. We came almost every day after that. We'd always come as early as possible, too, so we could get onto the ice first, be the first to mar that untouched, white glass. It was that time alone when my dad taught me how to jump and land. The only time I ever fell on the ice was when I was learning a new trick, but it was _always_ worth it. The way my dad's eyes shone when I landed a move, the pride in his voice, it was the  _best_  thing in the world."

Jack slowly opened his eyes, returning to the present, and grinned at his audience. "And now I'm rambling."

"Mr. Kaufman, are you in here?" A shout echoed through the room and Jack grabbed onto his hood, pulling it back over his hair before the intruder could notice it.

Mr. Kaufman didn’t acknowledge Jack’s reaction, glancing at his watch instead. Whe he saw the time, he gave the boys a sheepish grin and said, "I believe our little chat took longer than I'd thought. The rink will be opening in a little under an hour now and today's crew seems to have arrived. Excuse me."

He hurried around the rink, calling out, "I'm over here, Mark!" and the boys exchanged glances.

"We should probably head out," Nick suggested.

The others agreed and they slipped back around the rink, grabbed their shoes, and left. They'd forgotten all about returning the shed key, which was still tucked in Aster's pocket.

* * *

When the boys turned out of town and onto the highway, headed back to Narvon, the car exploded with pop music. " _Ooooh, you can dance, you can jive, having the time of your life_ "

Aster’s his face immediately flushed a dark crimson as he hurriedly grabbed his phone and answered it while the others broke into fits of peals of laughter at the strange ringtone.

The first words out of the Australian’s mouth where, "I’m gonna kill you if you don’t stop messing with my phone, Ana."

An excited, feminine voice responded to his threat and the blush started to fade as Aster listened to the excited babbling on the other end of the line. "Ana, slow down, I can't follow you."

"Uh-huh."

"No way!"

"That's awesome!" Aster's face had filled with excitement as the conversation went on and the other two were growing increasingly curious.

"Yeah, I'll tell them. We're on our way back from Burgess now."

"You too, see you Monday." With that, he hung up the phone and launched into an excited explanation, "Ana just got a call from Mr. Moon – a new donor had just offered to give us an extra thousand dollars for the fair!"

The fair was an expensive undertaking and the gang had already had to scrap some of their favorite ideas due to budget constraints. An extra bit of cash was a dream come true!

"That's great!" Nick exclaimed.

"I know, right?" Aster shoved his phone back into his pocket, only to find a strange metal object inside. As soon as he realized what it was, he let out a low groan. "Oh no, I forgot to give Mr. Kaufman back his key."

"Call him?" Jack suggested as Nick offered to pull over and turn around.

Aster chose to try Jack's idea first and called the man's cell phone. After hearing what had happened, Mr. Kaufman told Aster, "Why don't you keep the key until this fair thing is over? I've got another copy in my office and I'm sure you kids are going to need to get into that shed some time when I'm not here."

"Thank you, sir!"

"Don't worry about it. It was lovely to see you kids. You should come back and skate again soon."

Aster winced slightly. His backside was still sore from his earlier fall, but he thanked Mr. Kaufman for the offer anyway and hung up the phone. "He said we can keep the key!"

"Looks like everything's going right for us!" Jack declared, leaning back in his seat with a satisfied grin. It’s kind-of funny how wrong he was.


	19. Chapter 19

Mr. Moon looked up from his desk, where he'd been busily working on grading his first period class' essays, and into the faces of Ana Romoli and Aster Wilder. "Ah, I'm glad you were able to come and see me so early. Where's the rest of the gang?"

Ana motioned in the general direction of the parking lot. "Still arriving, probably. I wanted to talk to you as soon as possible, so we came directly here."

Behind her, Aster rolled his eyes and shrugged. He wasn't very happy with the fact that Ana had forced him to get up early so they could meet with Mr. Moon before school when they could have _easily_ waited until lunch. He also wasn't thrilled that she'd decided not to tell the others about this meeting request and was now lying to their advisor, but he played along and asked, “So, sir, why did you want to talk to us?"

Mr. Moon laid the paper he'd been reading on the desk, pushed his horn-rimmed spectacles to the bridge of his eyes, and rested his elbows against the table. After leaning his mouth against his clasped hands, he studied the two teens before him for a moment and then spoke. "You two know I have to approve all donations you receive, correct?"

They nodded.

"Well, as I informed you on Saturday, Ana, you've had a donor offer quite a large sum of money to your fair."

More nods.

"I am inclined to refuse this donation."

Aster let his crossed arms fall to his side, trying to understand what was going on.

Ana was more vocal in her reaction. "WHAT? But, sir, we could use that money! I've already worked it into the budget and…."

"Ana, will you please let me finish explaining?"

She pursed her lips, but quieted.

"This money is being donated by a Mr. Black, Pitch's father. After last year's mishap, I wasn't sure you kids would be comfortable accepting such a donation."

They exchanged nervous glances at this. None of them had thought to inform Mr. Moon of the fact that Pitch had joined the gang. Well, no time like the present!

"Sir," Ana replied, "Pitch has actually offered to help us with the fair this year."

Mr. Moon raised an eyebrow, but seemed otherwise unsurprised. "And I assume, since you're telling me this, that you accepted?"

The teens nodded and the teacher let out a deep sigh. "Are you sure about this?"

"Sir, you had Jack join us and he was just as involved in last year's incident as Pitch! Why not ask Pitch to join as well?"

Ana's explanation didn't seem to change Mr. Moon's trepidation. "Ms. Romoli, I chose Mr. Frost as an addition to your group for a very specific reason. I will not stop you from allowing Mr. Black to join the group, but I advise great caution when dealing with him. I'm assuming this also means that you're willing to accept the donation then?"

Ana nodded eagerly, but Aster remained quiet. Pitch still gave him a nasty feeling in the pit of his stomach, even if the guy was part of the team now. Accepting handouts from Pitch's father just didn't sit well with him, but they could do a lot of good with that money.

"Aster, are you willing to accept the donation?" Mr. Moon was looking at him curiously while Ana was giving him a pointed glare that clearly said, "say yes, you idiot!" so he did.

* * *

"…and we're storing the booths in this cool old house thing. They called it a shed, but Aster said that it used to be a caretaker's hut that they turned into a shed. Mr. Kaufman, the rec center director, even let us keep the key for it. Well, more like we accidently took it and he said we didn't need to bring it back."

Pitch listened intently as Jack babbled on about the weekend's events. He needed to know everything he could about the fair and the rec center if he wanted to make a plan that would work. "Did you take another load over on Sunday, then?"

Jack shook his head. "Nah, the rec center is closed on Sundays. I mean, since we have the key, we could have, but we didn't. We didn't really have anything else to take over, anyway."

Pitch nodded, filing that information away as well, and continued to bombard Jack with questions.

Jack was ecstatic that Pitch was taking a real interest in the fair and was more than happy to answer all of them as his foster father drove them to school. By the time they arrived, Pitch knew the basic layout of the rec center and several other useful factoids.

When Mr. Overland stopped the car, Jack went to the back and grabbed Pitch's crutches, then helped his friend out of the car – a ritual they'd developed after Pitch had made a few subtle comments the previous week. He was very pleased to have Jack serving him again, as it should be.

"Thank you, Jack," Pitch said and he began to make his way to the familiar cherry-red Jeep while Jack smiled and waved goodbye to his foster father before hurrying after his friend to make sure he didn't fall on the slick pavement.

As they neared the jeep, one of the back doors opened andAna came flying out. She rushed towards them, causing the duo to stop their progress in confusion. She soon reached them and wrapped Pitch in a big hug, crying, "Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

Pitch knew what was going on, but it still took a good deal of willpower to keep from screaming at her to let go of him. Instead, he channeled his rage into a blush of rage that spread across his normally sallow skin and adopted an embarrassed expression.

"What's going on?" asked Jack, clearly lost at the scene before him.

Much to Pitch's relief, Ana let go of him and turned to Jack. "That donation Aster told you about? Pitch's dad made it!"

She winked at Pitch and continued. "And I bet you had something to do with it!"

Pitch avoided her gaze and tried to deepen his blush. It apparently worked because Ana giggled and hugged him again. Seeing that Ana wasn't going to let Pitch move anytime soon, the rest of the gang exited the jeep and joined them.

Nick wrapped Pitch in a powerful side hug, loudly proclaiming his thanks, and Sandy gave him a big thumbs up.

Aster, on the other hand, came to stand by Jack, wrapping an arm around his friend's shoulder and leaning against him. He was okay with Pitch being around, but he was  _not_  hugging the guy.

"So, what exactly happened?" Jack whispered as the others continued to crowd Pitch.

"You heard Ana." Aster's voice was kept equally low.

"Yeah, I'm just not sure I believe her."

The Australian gave Jack a disbelieving look. "Okay, I'm supposed to be the one who doesn't trust Pitch all the way. He's  _your_  friend, why wouldn't you believe it?"

Jack shrugged, jostling Aster lightly. "I've just never seen Pitch ask his dad to give money to anything or anyone other than himself. Heck, _I’ve_ never seen a dime from the guy and we’ve been friends for seven years now."

Then he grinned and turned to look at Aster, frosty-blue eyes meeting bright green. "I guess Pitch really is shaping up, huh?"

"Uh, yeah…" Aster looked away from Jack and back to the surrounded Pitch, a frowning tugging down the corners of his lips. "I guess he is."

* * *

That weekend Pitch went to Nick's for the first time. While Nick and Jack worked on the woodwork, he and Aster did the paint job. Surprisingly, Aster was willing to let Pitch paint the letters on the booths as long as Aster traced the outlines first. Though it was simply coloring between the lines, Pitch took the job very seriously. He didn’t want to test the Australian’s temper by messing up one of his “babies.”

While the others worked on the booths, Ana and Sandy were busy going around to the local businesses that had agreed to donate food or were being paid to make food, making sure that the orders had been processed correctly so that they would have one less thing to do during the crunch period.

It was a productive day for both teams and, when Nick drove the guys home, they found a brand-new car waiting in Pitch's driveway.

"Hey, Jack, this means I can drive you to school from now on!" Pitch exclaimed with genuine excitement. His father's gift had finally arrived!

Jack gave Pitch a disbelieving look. "Pitch, your leg is still broken!"

"Yes, but it's my left leg and the car has an automatic transmission. I can drive it perfectly fine."

Pitch was right. Starting that Monday, he drove Jack to school every day. Fifteen minutes of precious time alone every school day. No one notice that Jack always seemed a little sadder every time he exited the black car because, by the time they joined the gang, he was smiling again.

* * *

"Mom, I got the solo!" Pippa rushed out of the choir room to where her mother was waiting. Her chocolate eyes were shinning with excitement and Mrs. Bennett bent down to give her daughter a big hug.

"That's wonderful, dear!"

Jamie, who had been sitting by his mother and reading a book, looked up at his sister and smiled. "Like you ever doubted that you'd get it?"

Pippa giggled and winked at him. He winked back and returned reading only to have his mother say, "Jamie, put away your book. It's time to go."

He obeyed, closing the book and standing up to follow her. Then his eyes fell on a poster in the hallway. "Hey, Mom?"

Mrs. Bennett had already begun to walk toward the exit with Pippa, but she stopped and turned her head to face her son. "Yes, Jamie?"

He pointed to a sign hanging on the wall that he'd only just noticed. "We're going to that, right?"

Mrs. Bennett read the sign. Bright red letters read, "Come one, come all to the Christmas fair" followed by a date, time, and place in deep green. The twins had asked her about the fair a few weeks ago, but she'd forgotten all about it. She reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone, checking where the date fell. Once she'd confirmed they were free that day, she put the phone away and gave her son a nod of approval.

"Since it's on the 15th we can probably make it."

Jamie ginned in delight and raced to join his family, taking his mother's free hand in his. "Good thing it wasn't on the weekend before Christmas, huh Pip?"

His twin nodded. "Yeah, otherwise we would have been at Grandma's house and missed it!"

* * *

"Hey, the cast is gone!"

Pitch grinned back at Jack as the smaller teen got into the car. "Yep! I've still got to wear a brace for another week or so, but the doctor said it's healing faster than they thought it would."

Then he pulled up the leg of his jeans to show Jack the leather contraption strapped against his leg.

Jack nodded and buckled his seatbelt.

As Pitch pulled out of the driveway and into the road he asked, "How did you do with the math homework?"

Jack made a disgusted face and slouched in his seat. "Can we talk about a more pleasant subject?"

Pitch laughed and pulled the car to a stop at a red light. This was the one part of his day that he always enjoyed, when he got time alone with Jack. He could almost forget his former friend's betrayal, but soon they'd be at school and he'd have to watch as Jack laughed and joked with those buffoons he'd decided to call his friends now. "Okay, what do you want to talk about?"

Jack thought for a minute before his eyes lit up. "Oh, I got a letter from the Bennetts! Pippa's got a concert coming up on the 9th of December for choir and she scored the lead solo this year!"

"Really?" Pitch stored away that useful little piece of information. He tolerated Jack's devotion to his siblings simply because he knew Jack would never be able to actually let them into his life. They weren't a threat like the gang.

"Yep!" Jack was the picture of a proud older brother. Pitch found the image far too happy.

"Are you gonna buy her a rose or something?"

Jack's face fell and the pride drained from his eyes as he replied, "You know I can't do that."

"Oh, come on! You could just send it from a mysterious admirer."

Jack shook his head, looking even sadder. "Nah. I don't want her trying to figure out who sent it and it would be a little creepy if a random guy sent a rose to a ten-year-old who doesn't know who he is."

Pitch gave the morose teen a sad smile. "Sorry, Jack. I wasn't thinking."

Jack smiled back. "It's okay. You were just trying to be helpful."

Jack didn't speak for the rest of the ride and Pitch spent it drinking in the sight of Jack huddled into a little ball of misery. He really had missed this.


	20. Chapter 20

"That's the last of it!" Nick exclaimed as he and Aster plopped the final booth against the shed wall. A bright flash of light blinded them and Aster glared at a smirking Pitch, who just happened to be holding a camera in his hands.

"You know, mate, just because Ana asked you to take pictures of everything doesn't mean that you have to blind us every five seconds."

"Hey, it's the only job I've got. The brace may be off, but no lifting heavy weight on this leg until the doctor says so!"

Jack chuckled softly from where he stood, leaning against the shed's door, and then called in at his friends, "Come on guys! Stop bickering! Mr. Kaufman promised we could go ice skating if we finished before the rink opened!"

Aster and Pitch both winced at this. Neither teen was a fan of the winter sport.

Nick, however, was as eager as Jack. The burly teen wrapped an arm around each of the reluctant duo and guided them out of the shed, his booming voice excitedly talking about how much fun they were going to have as Jack got into the truck. None of the others noticed when Pitch dropped his camera on the ground as they were leaving or the glint in his eyes when it happened.

* * *

Mr. Kaufman was working in his office when they boys found him, but he quickly put aside his project and smiled up at them, giving the teens his full attention. "Hello boys. I'm guessing you four got the booths all squared away. Ready for next weekend?"

"Hopefully," Aster said tiredly. He'd been up late last night finishing the final booth. So late that he'd even spent the night at Nick's house. "My main part's all done, at least."

Jack looked at Aster mischievously. "Oh, I don't know about that. I heard Ana saying something about decorating cookies?"

Aster closed his eyes and rubbed the bridge of his nose with his right hand, holding back a tired groan. "Just let me stay here in my happy fantasy world until we get back home, please?"

Jack laughed at the comment and grinned when he said, "Okay! Now, if I remember correctly, we were offered a chance to skate?"

Mr. Kaufman nodded and got up from his desk. "Of course. How could I not let Nathaniel Frost's son on my ice rink?"

As older man headed out of the office and towards the rink, Jack grabbed Aster's hand and began to drag the Australian after him.

"Hey! What are you doing?"

"Making sure you don't slink away while we skate," was the determined reply.

Muttering about annoying friends, Aster allowed himself to be dragged through the building while a bemused Nick and a livid Pitch followed. As much as Pitch would have disliked being dragged, the fact that Jack had grabbed Aster and not him filled him with rage.

Soon, the four boys were in skates and on the ice. Unlike Aster, Pitch was actually able to skate passably well on his own, meaning Jack was ignoring him and focusing on helping the Australian.

Pitch had even considered pretending he couldn't skate when that happened, but there was no way he was belittling himself that much just for Jack's attention. Especially since Jack should have naturally ignored Aster in order to skate with him. Instead, he was stuck skating with  _Nicholas St. North,_ the king of Christmas, and trying to listen in on Jack and Aster's conversation.

"It's easy! Just push with your leg a little bit. There, that's it!"

Aster forced a smile as Jack held his hands and guided his shaky form around the rink. "I'm sure Nick can help me, Jack. You can go show-pony around if you'd like."

Jack shook his head. "Nope! One, I'm not a showoff."

He ignored the look Aster gave him and continued on. "Two, you're my best friend and I'm going to make sure you love skating as much as I do."

When he heard this, Pitch had to take a calming breath to keep from skating over, knocking Aster to the ground, and bashing his brains out with an ice skate. Luckily, his private musings were interrupted by a booming voice saying, "Pitch, you're pretty good at this! When did you learn how to skate?"

Nick almost received an ear shattering scream in response to his question, but Pitch managed to pull off a polite reply of, "My father taught me one summer when I was visiting him."

"Ah, where does he live?" Nick asked.

When Pitch reluctantly answered the question, Nick replied with yet another and then another, each one prying further and further into Pitch’s personal life. Pitch, in turn, did his best to avoid answering the more personal questions while remaining polite. To his annoyance, the big teen's loud bombardment of questions made it so that he couldn't even listen to Jack and Aster's conversation anymore.

Jack, for his part, was too busy helping Aster skate to realize Pitch needed rescuing.

"You're doing great." The snowy-haired teen was grinning at Aster, who looked like he was going to be sick.

"Yeah, because you're holding me!"

"Well, let's see how you do on your own."

Aster shook his head fiercely, stumbling at bit as he did so. "Jack, don't you dare!"

"You have to at least try it! I promise, you're not going to fall." Jack didn't even realize he was echoing the words of his father, but Aster did. He looked over Jack's shoulder, to the corner of the room where the shrine sat silently, and sighed.

"Alright, I'll try."

Jack made sure Aster was steadied and slowly released him. When he saw his friend wasn't going to fall right away he said, "Okay, so far so good, now try to speed up a bit!"

Aster took a deep breath to calm his racing heart. Sure, he was gliding along alright now, but he had yet to actually do anything with his body. Well, Frostbite wasn’t going to let him leave until he tried, might as well get it over with. He stared down at his feet and mirrored the motion Jack had forced him to try. Instead of falling, he was surprised to find himself moving along the ice without even shaking.

He looked up into the twinkling blue orbs that were Jack's eyes and grinned. "You know, you’re a _way_ better teacher than Nick."

Jack laughed, his whole body shaking with mirth, drawing the attention of the other two boys. Pitch clenched his fist at the sight, but kept a smile plastered on his face as Aster said, "Alright, Jack, I can move on my own now. Let's see another trick."

"You just want an excuse to call me a showoff again."

"No, I'm serious. I actually wanna see what you can do."

Nick was nodding in agreement, but Pitch just looked bewildered. He'd never seen Jack skate and Jack had never told him about his little talent.

"Okay, I'll do something, but you guys have to get off the rink. I don't wanna hit you."

Pitch and Nick skated to the exit and left the rink while Jack helped Aster off the ice. Mr. Kaufman, who'd been watching the boys skate, called out, "Jack, would you like some music?"

"Sure! Play whatever you'd like!"

Mr. Kaufman went into the skate shop and the enchanting chords of Lindsey Sterling's  _Shadows_  began to blast across the room.

Jack gave a tiny bow to the onlookers and took off, gliding across the ice, pushing his skates in time to the music. As the music began to climb, he took a deep breath and jumped into the air, bringing his arms to his chest, before spreading them back out as his skates touched the ice.

He landed on one leg and turned his body in a tight circle before taking off across the glass-like surface once more. As the music throbbed, he twisted his body in tight circles and his legs performed a complicated series of cross backs before he launched into the air once more. He landed quickly, only to immediately jump right back into the air in an impressive double jump. His whole body was in tune with the sway of the music and the rhythm of the ice.

As the other teens stared in awe, Mr. Kaufman joined them by the rink's edge. "Good, isn't he?"

Silent nods were the only reply.

"I always tried to get Nathaniel to let him compete, but he wanted Jack to always look at skating as a way to be free, not another burden to worry about. I see now that he was right and I was too caught up in the idea of getting to brag about Jack to my friends."

On the ice, Jack was raising his right leg out behind him and leaning sideways, bringing his body parallel to the ice and into a camel spin.

Pitch was in shock. How had he not known about this? The beauty of Jack's skating was lost on the demented teen. Instead, he was filled with a slowly building resentment. Jack was supposed to have told him  _everything_ about himself. Pitch had prided himself on knowing exactly what made Jack tick. Now, here he was, _clearly_ the last one to know about this. This was _not_ okay.

As the music faded and a laughing Jack joined them, Pitch forced a smile and joined the others in praising the improvised routine, expecting to be the first one Jack spoke to. He wasn't. Aster was the one who Jack gave the first high five to and the one who grinned the brightest while he congratulated Jack. This was beyond not okay. This was _wrong_. Completely and undeniably _wrong_. All worry Pitch had about his plan was blown away. It would work and Jack would never see Aster's stupid smile again.

Just then, Mr. Kaufman's watch gave a tiny beep, interrupting Pitch's silent plotting. "Oh, look at the time. You boys can keep skating if you'd like, but I need to finish some paperwork."

"As much as we'd love to, sir, I think we need to head home. I'm sure Ana's got a whole slew of tasks for us to do," Nick regretfully replied.

The other boys agreed and they all took off their skates, said thank you to Mr. Kaufman, and headed back to the waiting truck.

* * *

Nick was just pulling onto Ana's street when Pitch let out a dismayed, "Oh no, my camera!"

"What happened to it?" the slightly green looking Aster asked, daring a glance into the back seat. "I don't see it."

"That's just it! I must have left it in the shed!"

Aster raised an eyebrow. "How did you manage that one?"

The ebony-haired teen shrugged, still looking upset, "I don't know. I thought I put it in my pocket, but it must have fallen out. And I was supposed to be the photographer for the fair! Now I won't be able to empty the memory card or charge it before next weekend."

"Can't you just drive there sometime this week? Or maybe we can get it Friday when we take the Christmas trees to the shed?" Nick suggested. He would have offered to go back earlier than that, but he was sure Ana had a thousand things for them to do.

"No! I mean, I doubt I'll have time this coming week."

"Hey, I could get it for you tomorrow," Jack offered.

Nick and Aster were more than a little confused by the offer, but Pitch was the picture of thankfulness. "That would be great! Do you think you'll have time?"

Before Jack could answer, Aster jumped into the conversation. "Jack, why are you going back to Burgess tomorrow?"

"Pippa has a concert tomorrow night that I'm going to. I thought I told you guys?"

Aster gave him an annoyed look. "No, you didn't! Luckily, I don't think we have much to do tomorrow. This coming week, though, yikes!"

Just thinking about all the tasks that had to wait for the last minute made the Australian feel tired.

"I know that! And I talked to Ana, at least, and she said it was fine."

He remembered that conversation very well. It had been the day he'd told Ana about his family. Every time he told the story it got a little easier.

"Well, as long as she knows, then who are we to complain?" Aster said, only to follow it a few seconds later with shouted, “That is not how you turn into a driveway ya maniac!”

As soon as Nick parked the car, the Australian jumped out and leaned against it, letting the nausea settle as he muttered curses at whoever had given Nick his drivers licenses. Almost as an afterthought, he reached into his pocket and grabbed the old, iron key, giving it to Jack as the albino stepped from the vehicle. "Here you go, mate. You'll be needin’ the key."

"I will use it wisely, good sir." Jack replied, giving Aster a mocking salute as he took the key and placed it in his pocket while Nick and Pitch exited the car.

"Are you four going to stand around talking or are you coming in here and helping? We've gotta finish two hundred snow-globe-making kits by the end of the day if we want to stay on schedule!" Ana shouted at the boys from the doorway, crossly glaring at them. Behind her stood a terrified looking Sandy, his eyes pleading for rescue.

Jack gave Aster a helpless shrug and ran to the door calling, "We're coming to rescue you, fair maiden, fear not!"

As the others followed him they weren't entirely sure if the "fair maiden" was Ana or Sandy.

* * *

It was probably going to start snowing soon. The sky was covered with clouds so that not even the faintest hint of moonlight could be seen as Pitch snuck out of his house and quietly got in his car. His mother was watching a movie and thought that he was fast asleep, resting from a busy day's work, but she was very wrong.

He turned his keys in the ignition, silently praising himself for asking his father for a quiet car, and pulled into the street. He was wearing a dark hat and a long, black coat, hoping to hide his features should anyone see him. In the passenger's seat sat a pitch black motorcycle helmet.

Pitch took the back roads out of town and sped along the highway until he reached a familiar turnoff. After leaving the main road, he took the car deep into the woods, along an old dirt path, past a frozen pond, only stopping when he reached the spot where he'd hidden his motorcycle well over a month ago.

Luckily for him, the limited police department hadn't searched far enough from the pond to find it and he'd hidden it well enough that it looked as if the few animals still here for the winter hadn’t touched it.

Grinning madly, Pitch guided the bike onto the path and pulled a gas can from the back of his car. He filled the motorcycle tank all the way, ensuring that he wouldn't have to worry about refueling on his little mission. Then he mounted the bike and sped off into the night, towards Burgess.

* * *

Pippa was wearing a white dress with golden trimming and standing center stage, singing at the top of her lungs. She looked like an angel. Jack loved watching and listening to her sing. The older she got, the more she sounded like his mother.

As the rest of the choir joined in, signaling the end of the solo, he looked at his program. The next song was the last one and he needed to be gone by then. So, when the current song ended and the applause started, Jack got to his feet and snuck out of the back of the room. He was so busy avoiding letting anyone get a good look at him that he didn't notice Mr. Kaufman watching him with sad eyes from a balcony seat. The old man knew who the boy in the hood was.

While Jack was walking to the rec center, the concert ended and Mr. Kauffman made sure to search out a certain mother.

"Mr. Kaufman, how nice to see you," Mrs. Bennett said, smiling at the familiar face. Jamie was at her side, his nose firmly planted in a book while his mother talked. All his friends who were here were in the choir, so he was stuck standing around waiting for them and Pippa to come out of the changing rooms. At least he had  _Mysterious Encounters_  to keep him entertained.

Mr. Kaufman gave a light bow. "Good evening, Madam and young sir."

Jamie looked up at the greeting and gave the kind man a big grin that looked so much like Jack's it nearly broke Mr. Kaufman's heart, then returned to reading the book in his hands. Mr. Kaufman didn't allow himself to dwell on the similarities between the Frost children, instead continuing his address to the twins' adoptive mother.

"Pippa did a wonderful job tonight. She sings just like her mother." He gave Mrs. Bennett a pointed look as he said these words and her proud smile transformed into a forced one as she grabbed Jamie's hand and held it tightly.

"Yes, she does, doesn't she? Come on, Jamie, let's go find your sister."

As she led him away, the boy said, "Mom, Pippa doesn't sound a thing like you."

Her grip on his hand tightened and his mother let out a strange, forced laugh as her pace quickened. "Oh, I think Mr. Kaufman was just being nice. Besides, his hearing's starting to go."

"Slow down, Mom!” was Jamie’s startled reply. “What are we running from?"

"Nothing, dear," her voice was strained now, "just help me find Pippa."

Jamie grew silent and allowed himself to be guided along as he glanced back at Mr. Kaufman, who he was certain had perfect hearing. The old man was giving him such a sad look that the boy knew something was going on. Now he just had to figure out what.

* * *

With a quiet click, the shed door opened and Jack stepped inside. He placed the key back in his pocket and began to hunt for Pitch's camera all the while thinking that he should have brought a flashlight.

The growing sound of an approaching motor caught his attention and he turned around as a beam of light fell upon him from the shed's entrance. Pitch was in the doorway, sitting on top of a motorcycle, dressed in a long black coat, with a messenger bag hanging at his side. The older teen stepped off of the bike, smiling darkly, and walked into the shed. With the light from the bike, Pitch's features were hard to make out. He looked more like a walking shadow than a man. "Jack! I'd hoped to find you in here!"

Jack took a step back, but Pitch grabbed him into an uncomfortably tight hug.

After he recovered from the shock of the surprise contact, Jack pushed Pitch off him and stepped back again. "Pitch, what are you doing here?"

Then his eyes fell once more on the motorcycle. "And where did you get that bike? What's going on?"

Pitch laughed, a deep and terrifying sound. "Oh Jack, you really are a fool."

"Pitch, what is going on?" Jack was getting angry now, but he could feel fear starting to creep into the pit of his stomach. Something was wrong.

"Jack, I'm here to make you an offer that I wouldn’t give to anyone else. I’m giving you a chance to make up for your mistake last year and prove that you really are my friend." Pitch explained, pulling a bottle with a rag stuffed into the top from his bag. Jack stared at it, still trying to connect the dots.

Pitch then pulled another item from the bag, one Jack couldn't see in the darkness. The shadowed teen rolled the item in his gloved hand for a second before throwing it to Jack. Instinctively, Jack caught it and then he almost dropped it when he realized what it was. A lighter.

The knot of fear bloomed into full blown terror and the anger became rage. "Is this some sort of joke?"

"No," the words came out like a snarl, "I don't joke. That's your department, Jack. This is an _offer_."

Then he threw the bottle to Jack as well. It reeked of gasoline.

"I'm giving you a chance to make up for _ruining_ my plan last year."

Jack looked from Pitch to the bottle to the booths lying against the wall, realization sinking in. "Plan? You mean that fire wasn’t… and now you want me to, to burn the booths?"

"Exactly! You really are quite clever when you have all the puzzle pieces."

Jack was trembling now – with rage or fear, he didn't know. "Are you insane? After what happened to us last year? Did the last few weeks mean nothing to you?"

"What, you think that changed anything? That I suddenly like those morons because we've been all chummy?" Pitch snarled, glaring at Jack. "Do you really think a few acts of kindness can make up for years of being beneath them?"

Jack glared back silently, clutching the dangerous items in his hands.

"You should know better than anyone how I feel! Do you really think this silly little fair is going to change a thing? You've poured hours into making it the talk of the town, but in the end, the twins still won't have a clue you exist. Do this, and everyone will know the name Jack Frost." Pitch let silence reign for a moment before continuing. "Of course, it's your choice, Jack. Give up on those idiots and join me, or pay the price."

Jack defiantly stared at where he thought Pitch's amber eyes were and said, "Not gonna happen."

"And I had such high hopes for you." Pitch shook his head sadly, lunged forward, and pushed Jack to the ground. While the other teen was getting to his feet, he reached into his bag and grabbed another gasoline soaked bottle, which he quickly set alight and threw onto the ground by the booths. The bottle exploded on impact, splattering burning liquid against the wooden structures.

Jack stared in horror at the flames, giving Pitch time to grab his third and final bottle from the bag and repeat the motion. The second explosion returned Jack to reality, and he dropped the items in his hands as he turned to rush at Pitch, only to find the other teen running out the shed door and closing it behind him. Jack ran after him and pushed on the door to open it, only to find that it was… locked. He reached into this pocket, but the key was gone. His phone was gone, too.

Panic was setting in now as Pitch started laughing on outside. "What, you didn't think I'd let you keep the key, did you? You really ought to be more wary about who you hug, Jack."

"Pitch, let me out of here!" Jack banged against the door as the fire started to spread. Fire. He hated fire.

Pitch made a tutting sound, "Demanding now, aren't we? Don't worry, I won't let you die."

As he spoke, Pitch was carefully wrapping the key in a rag, which he then doused with a little bit of the gasoline he’d stored in a flask. "I'll give you back the key. I'll even leave your phone out here for you to call for help, but I have to make sure I'm long gone before that happens."

He threw Jack's phone to the ground, ignoring the other teen's desperate cries as he pounded on the locked door, and leaned down to the ground. Using his lighter, Pitch set the key's wrappings on fire. Then he pushed it under the door, into the shed, and jumped onto his bike. Laughing with glee, Pitch zoomed across the frozen ground of the field and sped into the night.

Inside the shed, Jack was already choking on smoke. He stamped on the key Pitch had slid under the door, but even after he'd managed to get that fire out, the metal was too hot to touch. He had to wait until it cooled.

He turned to face the burning booths and choked back a sob as he watched all of their hard work go up in flames. He could feel his heart pounding in his chest and he swore he could hear Jamie and Pippa sobbing in terror once more as the oppressing heat brought tears to his eyes. Fire. It was always fire. Fire ruined everything.


	21. Chapter 21

" _All I want for Christmas is yoooooooooou!_ " Pippa sang the last few notes of the song merrily as the Bennetts pulled into their neighborhood. She'd been singing ever since they left the concert hall and Jamie was doing his best to tune her out. As she started to hum the intro to frosty the snowman, though, he cracked.

"You just sang for a whole hour. How can you possibly want to sing more?"

"Because singing is fun!" She leaned over and rested her cheek against her twin's shoulder. "Come on, sing with me, Jamie!"

Jamie had a theory that sisters had a special power over their brothers that they could use to make them do whatever they wanted. Pippa was using that power now. Her chocolate eyes were as wide as she could make them and her rosy lips were formed into the perfect pout.

"Pleeeeeease." Her voice was just the right pitch to tug at his heart strings, too.

"…what’d you wanna sing?"

In the front seat, the Bennetts smiled as their children began to sing  _Santa Claus is Coming to Town_. Despite Jamie's protests, his voice was a pleasant alto that harmonized wonderfully with Pippa's melodic soprano.

As the twins warned of Santa's famous list, the wail of a fire engine rang out, breaking the night's calm. The sudden sound made duo cut off the song and shiver with a long-forgotten fear and, for some reason, Jamie’s thoughts turned back to Mr. Kauffman’s comment about his mother.

* * *

Jack could barely breathe and he'd lost sight of the key – the smoke was just too thick. He fell to his knees, his body convulsing with a coughing fit, and began to search along the floor for the elusive object. It had to have cooled by now!

He spotted it almost immediately as it gleamed in the firelight. Jack reached out his hand and hesitantly brushed his fingers along its body. The metal was warm to the touch, but not unbearably so. He could get out!

Jack grabbed the key and looked up into the cloud of smoke that had formed above his head. He couldn't even see where the lock was anymore, though he knew he was still beside the door. He reached out and placed his palm against the wood. It was already starting to absorb the fire's heat. Jack wondered how long he had before the door burst into flames as well. Probably not long.

Banishing these thoughts from his mind, he began to feel along the door for the keyhole. Once his hand brushed against the metal opening, he took a deep breath, rose to his full height, and unlocked the door. A quick push later, he was stumbling into the chilly night air and out of the inferno. The blast of cold made his sweat-soaked body shiver, but he didn't have time to catch his breath and rest.

Instead, he used the light of the burning booths to find his phone in the frozen dirt. Praying that Pitch hadn't broken it, Jack flipped the powder blue gadget open and grinned when he was met with the familiar snowy background. He quickly ran his fingers over the display and dialed 9-1-1.

"9-1-1. What is the nature of your emergency?"

"Fire!" he coughed into the phone. "There's a fire at the rec center."

The operator fired off a rapid series of questions about the nature of the fire, which Jack answered as best he could between coughing fits.

Once the technical information had been gathered, the woman moved on to making sure Jack was okay. "Do you need me to stay on the line with you, sweetie?"

"No, no. I should be okay. I want to see if there's anything around here I can use to slow the blaze."

"They'll be there soon, hon. You sound like you breathed in a lot of smoke. I want you to get well away from that fire, alright?"

He didn't even bother to reply, simply clicking the phone shut as the operator spoke. What was he supposed to do now? He had to do something to try and stop the fire!

Jack wasn't thinking clearly at this point. He'd had a plan: get out and get help, and that had been enough to keep the terror at bay. Now that his plan was accomplished, the fear he’d been holding back was starting to set in. As he watched Aster's dreamlike paintings of winter turn to black nightmares, he started to breathe faster and faster, gulping in the clean air. The world was suddenly spinning, blurring together into a tapestry of light and dark with no distinct forms. He took a step forward and stumbled to his knees. The burning shed transformed into a two story, red brick house and he was suddenly ten years old again. He didn't even register that it was snowing.

The firemen arrived to find Jack still in this position, staring into the fire with terror-filled eyes, mumbling what sounded like comforting words.

They pulled him to his feet and tried to guide away from the blaze, but he had to be dragged, unable to move of his own free will.

"He's in shock!"

"Quick, somebody get him in the ambulance!"

He was guided up a step and made to lay down on something hard. The sound of sirens filled his ears and someone said, "Wait, isn't that the Frost’s kid?"

None of it registered. All he could see was his mother, running out of his life forever, and all he could hear was the sobs of two frightened toddlers.

* * *

"Jack didn't do it!" Aster was on his feet, shouting at the man before him. His father reached out and took hold of Aster's shoulder, pulling him back.

"Please, sir. We were told that Jack was the one who called for help."

The uniformed officer stared at the group before him nervously. He'd never had to deal with something like this before. Burgess was a quiet town. They'd never had an arson committed in all of his twenty years of service. "Yes, he did."

"So that means that he didn't do it!"

"Aster!" Nick's voice was sharp and forceful. Aster was a good friend, but his temper was the last thing they needed right now.

"Nick, you know Jack wouldn't." Aster was looking around the group for support now. The whole gang had received calls from Mr. Kaufman that they needed to come to Burgess with their parents as soon as possible. He hadn't told them the fine details, but he'd said enough to leave them all with heavy heats and they hadn't even seen the smoldering wreckage of the shed yet. Aster had insisted they go to the police station first and find out, "What the bloody hell is going on!"

"Just let him tell us what happened, Aster." Ana's voice was nearly breaking and she looked heartbroken. Her red-rimmed eyes betrayed the fact that she'd cried the entire drive over. Sandy took her hand in his and held it tightly. She squeezed back, giving him a silent thank you as the officer cleared his throat and explained.

"We've examined the scene of the fire now. Mr. Frost had the key to shed and there was no forced entry. That made us suspicious. The real damning evidence was inside of the shed, though: an unused Molotov cocktail and a used lighter. I'm sorry kids, but both had his fingerprints on them and _only_ his fingerprints. There's no way that anyone else did it and, with how close they were to the blaze, he’d have to have dopped them there before the fire got going."

Aster wilted, slumping his shoulders in a defeated posture as Nick laid a comforting hand on his shoulder as the Australian whispered, "But, why?"

Ana, for her part, was doing her best to hold back more tears as Sandy gave her a tight hug.

The officer held his hands before him in a gesture of confusion. "I don't know, kid. If there was a person I'd pick as the least-likely arsonist, it would be Nathaniel and Emma Frost's kid."

Ana's tears disappeared and the room's occupants all looked at the man inquisitively. Nick spoke now. "You knew Jack's parents?"

"Everyone knew the Frosts! Those two were the greatest forces of good in this community for _years_. Nathaniel was a good friend of mine and my son was in Jack's grade." The man took off his cap and sat down, looking troubled. "Trust me, none of us want this to be true. There isn't a member of the force who doesn't remember the Frosts. It's been only seven years and we were all here when they died. I was even at the scene when they brought out the bodies."

The adults were lost by now, but the teens understood what the man was talking about. They also knew there was nothing they could do. With silent nods of thanks they filed out, leaving the man to his contemplations as their parents followed after them.

As they got back in their cars and drove to the scene of the fire, Aster felt the burning pain in his throat that signaled tears would soon follow, but choked it back. It was only when he looked into the shed and saw all of their work collapsed into a pile of burned ashes that he gave up the last shred of hope he'd kept alive. Ruined. It was all ruined.

He stayed silent and unmoving as the others three crowded around him, asking if he was okay, but of course he wasn’t _okay_. Jack had… why?


	22. Chapter 22

Jack came out of his stupor within an hour of arriving at the hospital, only to be greeted by a grave-faced officer who'd demanded his fingerprints. Jack had supplied them and, when the Overlands arrived, it was to find their foster son cuffed to his hospital bed. An apologetic nurse explained that the police had reason to believe Jack had set fire to a piece of public property. Jack protested his innocence, but after the police had come and given them all the evidence, even the Overlands couldn't argue the facts.

They'd stood in the hallway, talking in hushed voices for a few minutes before coming back into the room. Mr. Overland spoke first, "Jack, why?"

Jack's face hardened into rage. After begging to police to listen to his story, finding his own guardian's unable to believe him was more than he could take. Icy walls that had slowly melted over the past months reformed in a matter of seconds, thicker than ever before. "I told you, I didn't do it! It was Pitch!"

His foster mother looked at him in desperation. "Jack, why would Pitch do something like that?"

"Because he's insane!"

"Son, the Narvon police went to Pitch's house. He was asleep in his bed and his mother said he hadn't even left the house since sunset."

"Don't call me that."

The Overlands looked confused.

"Don't you dare call me son."

"Jack." Mrs. Overland's voice was low and pleading.

Jack turned away from them, refusing to look them in the eye. "Go. Just leave me alone."

Unsure what to do or say, they left. When the door closed, Jack lay back onto the bed, the handcuffs jingling at the motion.  _Why Pitch? Why?_

He could still see his insane former friend standing there in the shadows of the light, laughing. The light… Jack sat back up so fast his head spun a bit. That bike! How in the world had Pitch gotten that bike? Pitch didn't _have_ a bike anymore.

He closed his eyes and concentrated on the memory, trying to remember what the bike looked like. Had it really been the bike he thought it was? That was impossible. As he concentrated on the bike, a different image surfaced. In this one, Pitch was standing by the same bike in a parking lot at twilight. A familiar parking lot. The one at the cemetery!

When had they gone there? He'd only taken Pitch to see his parents grave once before and that was long before Pitch could drive. They'd gone into Burgess one day back in middle school and Pitch had asked to see the gravesite on the way back to the bus. As far as Jack knew, that was the only time Pitch had ever gone to the place where his parents were buried. He'd certainly never taken Jack there on his bike. So where did this memory come from? Wait, no, that wasn’t right… Pitch had taken him there one other time. The time he couldn’t remember. Maybe…

He tried to remember. He could feel a pounding headache start to throb at his temple, but he had a feeling this was something he needed to recall. He could see Pitch getting on the bike in the memory, offering Jack a seat behind him. Why was Pitch so blurry? Oh, right, he'd been crying. Why had he been crying? He’d stopped doing that at the grave ages ago.

His head really was pounding now. It hurt so bad that he wanted to just close his eyes and drift into nothingness, but he pressed on. Instead of moving forward, the memory moved backwards. Pitch was standing before him with a bouquet of flowers. Now that was strange. When had Pitch ever bought him flowers? No, not him. Those flowers were for someone else. Jack tried to look around the memory, but all he could see was Pitch standing there with flowers. He started to give up, letting the memory fade away, when he suddenly heard Pitch's voice echo through his mind.  _"I didn't think you'd be here."_

That tiny bit of sound opened the floodgates and the memories surged back. The call from Mr. Bennett, waiting by the grave, Pitch taking him home… Wait, Pitch didn't take him home. Pitch took him to the woods.

When Pitch had told him what happened that day, he'd said that they went out for a ride because Jack had been down about his parents' death. He said they'd left from Narvon, too. That had seemed to fit at the time and Jack had accepted this as the truth. It wasn't. Pitch had lied!

That really shouldn't have surprised him as much as it did.

He concentrated on those last few moments before he'd been struck. He'd asked Pitch why they were there and… and Pitch had laughed! It hadn't been a happy laugh, either. It was the same kind of laugh that he'd let out in the shed. That creepy one…

The truth really hit home then. Pitch had been the one who attacked him… What else had he forgotten?

Then another thought occurred. If Pitch had attacked him, then who’d hurt Pitch?

_"I really should have thought a bit more before I went and broke my leg."_

_"Yeah, because you had a choice in the matter."_

Jack almost threw up. Oh, dear God. Pitch had done that to _himself_. He'd always known that Pitch was a little on the crazy side, but this? Never in a million years would he have dreamed of this.

* * *

Pitch was almost laughing with joy as he lay in his room. He'd made it home with enough time to sneak in and crawl into bed before the police had shown up. To make things even better, his idiot of a mother hadn't even noticed his absence. Only Jack knew the truth and what proof did he have? Nothing. Pitch had made sure of that.

His car had no soil samples that could be linked to the field on its tires, the clothing he'd worn had been left with his bike in the woods, the gloves he'd worn had spared his prints getting on anything, and he had the _perfect_ alibi. No one was ever going to trust Jack Frost again.

Now, all that remained was to play the devastated friend over the next week and revel in the misery of the gang as they mourned the loss of their precious fair. Getting close to them had been _so_ well worth it. Now he got to watch them break up close. What a wonderful Christmas season this was turning out to be.

* * *

Warning the gang was Jack's only concern now. He pushed the buzzer for the nurse repeatedly until a flustered young woman came into the room. She didn't approach Jack's bed, though. She stood by the door instead, almost as if she was afraid of him.

She probably was.

"Can I have my cellphone? Or any phone, really, I need to call someone." Jack tried to keep his voice slow and calm to avoid panicking the girl any further.

"Um, I don't know if that's allowed." Her voice was actually shaking! Jack took a deep breath. This was not the time for anger or fear – he needed to make this woman trust him.

He smiled, glad that he was a master at feigning happiness when in pain. "Look, it's okay. Can you just ask whoever's in charge of taking care of me if it's alright? I just want to call my friends and let them know what's going on. I did almost die tonight."

He let out a tiny laugh and the nurse seemed to loosen up. Even with an arson charge hanging over his head, Jack was still able to summon up his true nature.

"I think the head nurse knows that. Wait here, I'll go check."

Jack jingled the cuffs and grinned. "Well, if you insist."

She did laugh at that and hurried out of the room. Dark humor. It wasn't his normal style, but whatever did the trick.

She soon returned with his cell phone. "They brought this in with you, but the nurses wanted to wait until you were up before returning it and then…"

Jack gave her the biggest grin he could summon. "You are a lifesaver! Thank you."

She blushed and handed him the phone with a bashful, "You're welcome."

Then she stood there, gazing at him for a moment, before letting out a small giggle and running from the room.

Okay, that was a bit strange, but now he had his phone! The only question was, would Aster even pick up?

* * *

"Why would Jack do that? It doesn't make any sense. You'd think he hated fire." Ana was holding an old fairy doll in her arms and sitting on her bed. The others were sitting in various places around her room. Sandy and Nick leaned against the far wall and Aster was sitting backwards in her desk chair. They’d asked their parents for an emergency sleepover and it had been agreed upon unanimously as had the fact that letting the gang talk it out was probably the best thing to do.

"Well, he did help Pitch burn the props last year," Aster offered gloomily, staring at nothing.

Nick perked up a bit at that. "Wait! Did anyone even call Pitch and let him know what happened?"

The others shook their heads.

"He's probably sleeping peacefully right now, dreaming of how awesome the fair is going to be," Ana whispered, tightening her hold on her doll and wishing she could be so lucky.

"Hey, it's not like we can't still hold the fair. It'll just be a little less wonderful than we'd planned." Nick tried to sound cheerful, but failed miserably.

"Yeah, sure. I mean, it'll just look awful and we'll all be walking around acting like Christmas was canceled due to Jack, but we can still hold it."

The other's winced at Aster's harsh predication, but they couldn't argue with it.

“ _Darlin’,_ _only the good diiiie young!_ ”

Aster pulled his phone from his pocket before staring at it disbelievingly as it continued to play the song.

“ _Woah, woah, woah, woah_ ”

"Aster, what's wrong?" Ana questioned.

"Jack's calling."

_“I tell you,_ _only the good die young."_

They were all looking at the green phone now.

_"_ _Only the good die young."_

"Are you gonna answer?" Nick asked.

"I, I don't know."

_"You got a nice…"_

Sandy got up from his seat, grabbed the phone, flipped it open, and shoved it to Aster's ear. Aster made a noise of surprise, enough for Jack to know he was there.

"Aster!"

Silence was the only answer.

"Aster, listen, you don't even need to answer. Just listen, okay?"

Aster remained silent, waiting for Jack to continue. Sandy was still holding the phone.

"You guys are all in danger."

Aster scoffed, but Jack continued.

"I didn't start the fire, Pitch did. He's out to ruin everything. I don't know why, he just is. He's even the one who attacked me in the woods!"

Now Aster did speak. "Oh come on, Jack. If you're gonna lie to me, at least make it believable, mate! Pitch was attacked too."

In his hospital room Jack squeezed his eyes shut, praying he could reach Aster. "No, he wasn't. Pitch did that to himself."

Aster grabbed the phone from Sandy and got to his feet, green eyes bright with anger and hurt. "Frost, give me one reason why I should listen to another word you say!"

"Because I would _never_ set fire to _anything_ , let alone your paintings." Jack's voice was calm, but full of emotion and honesty.

Aster gripped his phone tightly, the burning feeling returning to his throat.

"Jack, I…" Aster's voice broke and Ana got up from her spot on the bed, wrapping her thin arms around his torso. He wrapped his free arm around her and continued, "I want to believe you. I can't see you doing this to us, but all the evidence…"

"A set up." Jack explained. "Listen, I know this all looks bad, but Pitch made one mistake. When he came to the field he was on his motorcycle."

Aster didn't get it. "Huh?"

"His motorcycle! He still has it! If he still has that, then the police will question the validity of his claims. If you can find it, then there's a chance we can prove he did it."

Aster looked around his room at his anxiously watching friends. Only Sandy seemed calm. "I'm putting you on speaker phone, the others are all here."

A push of a button later Jack's voice filled the room. "Hey gang."

Nick got to his feet and came to stand by Sandy, Aster, and Ana. "Hey, Jack. I get the feeling you've convinced Aster here to at least consider that you're not guilty?"

"Yeah, he has."

Tears filled Jack's eyes as Aster's deep voice reached his ear, but he was smiling when he continued, "Okay, so here's what's going on. Pitch still has his motorcycle. He used it to get to the shed. He met me there after Pippa's concert and he's the one who started the fire. I'm sorry, guys. I should have stopped him."

"Jack," Ana's sweet voice interrupted his ramble, "focus. We need you to tell us the details. There will be time for apologies and forgiveness later, after everything’s been figured out."

Ana. Always the detail-oriented one. "Right. If Pitch still has that bike, then the police will know that something is up with his story about the attack."

Nick opened his mouth to ask what Jack was going on about, but Aster shook his head. They needed to hear what Jack had to say.

"The bike won't be at his house. His mom is oblivious, but not that oblivious. That means he's got it hidden somewhere. I know Pitch. I've spent years following him around. If he thinks he knows a secret place, then he never believes anyone will be able to think of it. That means the bike is probably still wherever he hid it after the attack."

"And where is that, exactly, Frostbite?"

Jack smiled at the nickname. If Aster was using that again… he shook his head and focused on the question, whose answer he would have figured was bit was obvious. "The woods where you guys found me, of course!"


	23. Chapter 23

Nick pulled the Jeep to a stop and turned to his passengers. "How exactly do you guys wanna do this?"

Aster looked out into the shadowed forest and scowled. This was rural Maine, the forest probably went on for miles! "Get out and just start walking, I guess."

In the back, Sandy zipped up his winter coat and jumped out of the Jeep, landing on the snow-covered ground. The diminutive teen was worried about Jack. The albino had only just started to really trust them, and now this had happened. The others might not fully believe Jack’s story yet, but it made a lot more sense to Sandy and so that’s what he was going to believe until someone proved that it was undeniably Jack who had done it.

Aster and Nick followed his example and exited the car as well. They hadn't told anyone about this fool's errand, meaning Ana had been stuck at home incase her parents woke up. Nick clicked on his flashlight and pointed it into the surrounding trees. "Well, we may as well start from the pond and move out."

"No." Aster immediately rejected that proposal. "The police already searched this area and didn't find the bike. That would just be a waste of time."

"Okay then, what's your brilliant idea?" Nick asked exasperatedly.

"I don't know! Just not that!"

Whilst the two bickered, Sandy had started to trudge along the road, looking up into the night sky. He'd always loved the peace and beauty of the night. Turning his gaze from the heavens, he looked down to the ground. The fresh, unmarred snow was glimmering in the faint light of the stars. Then his gaze fell upon a single line of tread marks, perfectly preserved in the snow. On either side of this track was the imprint of a car's tires. Whatever made these only went one way along this road.

Sandy started to follow the tracks, not noticing that the others had stopped bickering and were now watching him curiously.

"Sandy!" Now he did stop, turning around at Nick's cry. "What are you doing?"

Sandy merely pointed to the tracks and started walking once more.

Nick and Aster exchanged confused glances and followed Sandy as he moved along the old road.

They walked for a long time, their faces growing numb from cold, but the tracks finally veered from the path and out into the woods. Cautiously, they left the path and trudged through the trees. The only sound was the crunching of snow and the snapping of twigs.

Aster spotted it first and pointed his flashlight at it. "Look at that!"

Inside of a grove of pine trees that were packed so tightly you could barely see between their branches, the gleam of something metal was shining in the flashlight beam. The trio hurried over and pushed the branches aside to reveal a black motorcycle, a gas can, and a pile of discarded clothing.

Aster moved forward to examine the items, but Sandy stopped him. The little teen gave him a pointed look.

"Oh, right. Probably shouldn't mess with the evidence."

Sandy nodded and Nick pulled out his phone asking "Who should we call?"

Aster rested his chin in his hand, thinking. "Do you still have the emergency number for the police in your phone?"

"Yeah."

"We should probably call that number then."

"Oh, right."

Sandy shook his head in exasperation as Nick punched a few buttons and held the phone to his ear. He loved his friends, but they worried him some times.

* * *

The sound of loud bangs woke Pitch up from a peaceful dream full of others' misery and fear. He squinted at his clock with sleepy heavy eyes. Bright red letters read 4:04am. Another bang made him jump. What was going on?

The sound of a door opening and closing reached his ear. His mother was awake. Good, she could take care of this.

He lay back against his pillow and closed his eyes, ready to drift off once more, when the sound of raised voices met his ears. He couldn't make out the words, but they were definitely male. A tiny feeling of nervousness wormed its way into his stomach and he got out of bed, intent on see what was going on.

"I'm sorry ma'am, but we have to take him in."

If Pitch had been more awake, he would have run at these words, but he wasn't so he came into sight of the front door where he stopped in his tracks. His mother was standing in the open doorway, staring at two uniformed police officers, Aster Wilder, Sanderson Mansnoozie, and Nicholas St. North. Pitch's heart began to pound. No. They couldn't have…

Sandy noticed Pitch and pointed at him. The officer's hard gazes left the trembling form of his mother and fell on Pitch. As soon as they saw him, one of the men said, "Pitch Black, you're under arrest for arson and attempted murder."

His mother let out a cry of horror as Pitch turned to run, but Aster darted into the house and grabbed him before he could take more than a few hurried steps towards the back door.

The two teens fell to the floor and Pitch began to struggle, but Aster held him tight while the officers quickly entered the house. They roughly pulled the duo apart and a pair of silver handcuffs was strapped to Pitch's hands.

The pajama-clad teen glared at the gang and Aster grinned. "You would have gotten away with it if it weren't for us meddling kids, right?"

Pitch growled, but remained silent as the officers led him out of the house. He wasn’t going to give them any fuel for the trial.

Once Pitch was locked in the police cruiser, one of the men returned. "Okay kids, you should get home. We'll take it from here. Oh, and next time just identify the guy and let _us_ take him down."

He then turned to the distraught Mrs. Black, but Aster cut in before the man could speak again. "Wait, what about Jack?"

"You mean Jack Frost? Well, he's not off the hook just yet, but it looks like he'll probably be cleared of all charges. You boys did good."

Aster grinned as Sandy and Nick exchanged ecstatic grins.

"Now, go home and get some sleep! I'm sure your folks are worried sick."

* * *

Jack woke up as the morning sun poured into his window. He'd stayed up late, waiting to hear if Aster and the others had found the bike, but no word had come. Dismayed, he'd finally given up and gone to sleep around three. Now the he was awake, he lay still in his bed, watching the sunbeams play along the floor and wondered what prison would be like. Not very much fun, probably.

A knock interrupted him musings and he turned to find Mr. Kaufman standing in the doorway.

Jack sat up and a terrible feeling rushed through him. Here was one of his parent’s oldest friends, a man who had been like a grandfather to him as a child, and he thought Jack was some kind of criminal. "Sir, I can explain what happened last night. I'm so sorry about the shed. I…"

Mr. Kaufman raised a hand and Jack fell silent. "Jackson Nathaniel Frost, if you believe that I even considered the notion that you set fire to those booths then you are a bigger fool than the members of our police force."

Jack bit back the urge to respond the jibe and continued to listen.

"I don't know what's going to happen in the coming days, but I will do my best to help clear your name. Now, I did not come here to talk about the idiotic charges against you. I came here to give you something. May I sit?"

Jack nodded and Mr. Kaufman sat down in the chair by his bed, purposely ignoring the cuffs attaching the teen to it. From his pocket, he pulled a key and held it out to the puzzled youth. "Do you have any idea what this unlocks, child?"

Jack took the key and shook his head.

"Do you remember what I did before I retired and took over running the rec center?"

"Of course, you were a lawyer."

Mr. Kaufman smiled. "Indeed I was. Do you know that even a retired lawyer can make a will?"

Jack shrugged. "I never really thought about it before. What's that got to do with me?"

"I've never married, you know. I have no children of my own. It's why I started to work at the rec center, so I could be around kids. I always thought that I'd grow close to the children who came into my life. I never expected to find the son I'd always wanted in an adult.

"Your mother and father treated me like a member of their family from the day I met them and I came to love them as my own. I was overjoyed when you were born and I loved watching you grow up. So, when Nathaniel and Emma came to me and ask for my guidance on writing their will, I told them I'd write it for them. You were only five at the time. Jamie and Pippa weren't even born yet.

"While you might not know that I wrote the will, I’m sure you know what it stipulated happen to their earthly possessions. Their wealth was left in equal parts to each of their children, funds that will come into your possession on your eighteenth birthday."

Jack nodded, he’d been told all this when his parents died.

"But there was another stipulation. You, and only you, were left what is found in the room that key unlocks. I've kept it these past seven years and had planned to write you a letter about this part of your inheritance on the day you came of age. Then, to my shock, you came back into my life. As I looked at the grinning boy in a blue hoodie that had wandered into my kingdom, I realized I had done you a great wrong."

He reached forward and took Jack's hand, the key clasped between their two palms. "I'm sorry I never sought you out after the fire. I failed you. I was devastated at the loss of your parents, but that is no excuse for my actions. I abandoned you. I'm giving you this key now, just a bit early, and asking for your forgiveness."

Jack smiled softly into the sad eyes of the man who had been such a strong presence in his childhood. "Mr. Kaufman, there's nothing to forgive. You’re not the only one who shut down."

The old man stood up and hugged the teen, who was more than willing to hug him back as best he could with only one free hand.

They were still hugging when a uniformed officer entered the room and removed Jack's cuffs as he explained the night's events in an embarrassed voice. Jack laughed with joy at the news and Mr. Kaufman demanded all the details. Once the officer left, the old man sunk onto the edge of Jack's bed, resting his head in his hands. "I'm _so_ glad you made friends with those four."

Jack grinned. "They're the best friends I could ever ask for. Now, how soon can I get out of this place?"

* * *

There were a thousand things to do if the gang still wanted to pull off the fair, but nothing mattered to them, save for seeing Jack.

"I don't know about this, Ana." Mrs. Romoli looked at her husband, waiting for his opinion on the matter.

"The boy's parents have all said yes?"

"Yes, dad. Nick will be here to pick me up any second. _Please_ , we _have_ to go and see Jack!" Ana clasped her hands before her, widening her violet eyes, the picture of innocence.

"Couldn't you see him _after_ school, dear?" Her mother's deep-purple eyes were full of concern.

"Mom, think about it, this is more important that school! After everything that's happened, we need to see him as soon as possible." Ana was getting desperate. What if they said no?

"Won't the police be at the hospital? What if they take you in for being truants?"

Trust her mom to immediately imagine the worst case scenario. "Not if you write me a note saying that I have your permission to be there. Plus, the police know who we are and they know what happened last night. There's no way they'll keep us apart!"

With a defeated sigh, Mr. Romoli got up from his breakfast and grabbed a sheet of paper from one of the many drawers lining the kitchen walls. "Alright, Ana, you win."

At this, Ana wrapped her arms around her father with a squeal of, "Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

Soon, she was in the sleigh with the guys, listening to Blackmoor's Night's  _Christmas Eve_ and headed towards Burgess and Jack.


	24. Chapter 24

Jack called the nurse in and learned that, since he'd been under observation for over twelve hours now, the doctor had cleared him to leave. Once they'd heard this, Mr. Kaufman left to go and call Jack's foster parents and ask for their permission to take the teen from the hospital. He wanted to show Jack what the key opened as soon as possible.

" _When life leaves you high and dry…_ " The sound of a ringtone poured from Jack's phone and he grinned as the song played on. Aster.

Leaning forward, he grabbed the device from the bedside table and flipped it open. "Thanks for telling me my name was cleared!"

"Oops." Aster's deep voice sounded a bit sheepish, but it was full of laughter, too. "Sorry, mate, we were a bit busy clearing it! What room are you in?"

Jack looked around for a number and he found it painted by the door in blocky, black lettering. "306, why?"

The door flying open was his answer. A grinning Aster gave him a mocking wave while Ana rushed past him to Jack's side with Nick and Sandy following close behind.

"Shouldn't you guys be in school?" Jack tried to sound disapproving, but he was smiling too hard for it to have any real effect.

Aster chuckled and joined the gang at Jack's bedside. "With you stuck in here? Not on your nelly!"

Jack laughed and looked around the group, his eyes softening. His laughter died into a small smile and he ran pale fingers through snowy hair. "Guys, about last night… Thanks. I didn't know if you'd even pick up the phone when I called."

"We almost didn't!" Ana replied. "Sandy gets all the credit for that."

The golden-haired teen blushed lightly and gave a little bow.

The door opened once more, cutting off Jack's thanks, and Mr. Kaufman entered. Seeing the gang surrounding Jack, the old man couldn't help but smile. "Why am I not surprised to find you four here?"

The gang was certainly surprised to see him.

"Mr. Kaufman, good morning." Nick stepped forward and shook the man's hand. "Have you heard the good news?"

"Indeed I have. In fact, I've just been granted permission to take this young man out of this sterilized wasteland."

"Really?" Jack threw off his covers and started to get out of his bed with a cry of, "That's awesome!"

Then he looked down at his hospital-gown-clad body and sighed. "You know, one of these days I'm actually gonna get to take off my own clothes when I get to the hospital. Anyone know where they ended up?"

* * *

Jack's clothes, which reeked of smoke and were more than a little charred, were deemed completely unacceptable by everyone but him and, much to his annoyance, his opinion on the matter wasn't even considered. Instead of being able to throw them on and leave, he was forced to wait with the other guys while Ana and Mr. Kaufman ran downtown and bought him a new outfit. In the half-hour lull this afforded them, he learned all about the previous night's adventure. When Aster told him about tackling Pitch, Jack just burst out laughing and gave the taller teen a massive hug. "I wish I could have seen it!"

The key he'd been firmly holding onto fell from his grasp as his arms encircled Aster and Sandy picked it up, giving Jack and inquisitive look as he handed it back to him. Jack grinned and started on his own story. He told them about how Mr. Kaufman had been a close friend of his father's when Jack was growing up and about the stipulations of his parents' will. When he reached the bit about the key, all of the guys adopted curious expressions. Sandy's overactive imagination immediately filled his mind with distracting images of a room full of glimmering treasure and booby traps, but he managed to keep most of his attention on Jack and the others.

"What do you think it opens?" Nick asked.

Jack shrugged. "Not a clue. I mean, our old house isn't even there anymore. It wasn't structurally stable after the fire so they tore it down and sold the land."

Just then, a thought struck Aster. "Hey, Jack."

"Yeah."

"When do you turn eighteen anyway?"

Jack suddenly blushed a light pink. "Oh, um, about that. It's no big deal. I haven't even celebrated my birthday in years anyway. You don't need to worry about it. It's a silly thing to celebrate anyway. It's not like I did anything to earn it."

Nick and Aster exchanged amused looks as Jack rambled on while Sandy crossed his arms.

"Jack, we're your friends. It is out sacred duty to make sure your birthday is a day to be remembered."

"Nick's right, mate. You're not allowed to keep it a secret."

Jack had no escape route. He was surrounded. "Really, it's no big deal guys."

Nick folded his arms across his chest an in imitation of Sandy’s posture. "Jack, you have two options. Tell us yourself, or we get it off Mr. Kaufman."

It wasn't much of an ultimatum, but it did make Jack let out a snort of nervous laughter. Looking anywhere but at the gang he mumbled out the word, "Thursday."

"Thursday!"

"You were going to let it skip right by it, weren't you?"

"Well, we do have a fair coming up in five days that we still have to pull off." A worried frown crossed Jack's pale lips after he’d said this and he asked, "You are still going to have the fair, right?"

Sandy nodded while Nick explained. "Well, we're gonna try. It's not going to look anywhere near as impressive, but none of the crafts or food was hurt so we can still pull it off. We're just going to have to have tables set up around the gym instead of booths."

Aster scowled at this. All his hard work burned to a crisp. The fair was going to look pretty stupid without booths, but he kept him opinion to himself for once. It wasn't like there was anything they could do about that little issue.

Jack, for his part, looked incredibly relieved, though that look changed to surprise when the door flew open.

"We're back!" Ana called as she strutted into the room, threw a shopping bag at Jack, and adopted a silly, French accent. "Now, darling, go and put these on."

The other boys moved out of the way and allowed Jack to get out of his bed. He peeked into the bag as he walked towards his bathroom and gave Ana an amused looked. "What is it with girls and playing dress-up?"

She placed her hands on her hips and smirked at him. "Go change and I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that."

Grinning, he stepped into the restroom and closed the door.

He exited the bathroom a little more than a minute later. In place of his normal look of blue jeans, a t-shirt, and a hoodie, he was wearing a snug pair of black dress pants, an Egyptian-blue button-down shirt, and a formal, black jacket. It was a classy look that felt very out of place to the snowy haired teen. "Don't I need some sort of vagabond if I'm gonna wear this?"

Mr. Kaufman, who had been standing in the doorway during this exchange, threw him one.

The teen caught it and stared down at the grey hat. He'd been joking.

Ana took the silence for dislike of her outfit. "Jack, what's wrong?"

He placed the hat on his head and replied, "Nothing's wrong."

His voice was soft, barely more than a whisper, when he continued. "It's just, every time I turn around, you guys are doing something else for me."

He glanced around at the familiar faces of the first true friends he'd had since his parent's deaths. "I've never actually thanked you guys for making me a part of this, have I?"

Then he clasped his hand behind his back, suddenly looking shyly at the ground. "Well, thank you. Even if the fair isn't as cool as we wanted it to be, we're still making it happen. It's more than I thought was possible after last night. I expected you guys to give up, but you didn't. You didn't give up on the fair and," here his voice trembled slightly, "and you didn't give up on me. Thank you."

Ana stepped forward, closing the tiny distance between them, and wrapped him in a tight hug. "Don't go selling us short, silly. We never quit on something when we've got our minds set on it."

Jack hugged her back, smiling into her blonde hair. She was just tall enough so that he could rest his head against hers.

"You'd think you didn't have any faith in us," Aster joked, looking at the duo with tender eyes.

Jack simply looked up at him and grinned.

The somber moment gone, Mr. Kaufman gave a slight cough, drawing the group's attention to him. "Jack, I'll understand if you're not ready, but would you like to see what that key opens up? I think you might need it."

Jack drew his right hand from its position around Ana's slender frame and gently reached into his pocket, closing it around the key. "Yeah, I think I'd like that."

He glanced around at his friends, all of whom had adopted expressions full of interest and laughed. "Yes, you guys can come."

* * *

Jack had come to the hospital barely cognizant of his surroundings; he left the hospital laughing and surrounded by friends.

Instead of going with the gang, though, he got into the passenger's seat of Mr. Kaufman's car while Nick hopped into the driver's side of his jeep and the others piled into their normal spots. After everyone was inside and Nick had started the sleigh, Mr. Kaufman pulled out of the parking lot and onto the road, taking Jack to his parent's final gift.

* * *

Wherever the gang had expected to be taken, it certainly wasn't the rec center.

"Mr. Kaufman, I thought this place was public property. What could possibly be in here that belongs to me?" Jack asked, more than a little lost as the car pulled to a halt in the building's parking lot.

Mr. Kaufman turned off the engine and exited the car, but he remained silent until Nick had parked the jeep and a very confused-looking quartet of teens had joined them. "I got permission from the mayor to keep it all here after your parents died, Jack. It was already being kept here, actually, and we certainly didn't need the space, so we just didn’t move it."

He started towards the building and the group hurried after him as Jack asked, "Permission to keep _what_ here?"

Mr. Kaufman just smiled and led them into the building. Instead of going down one of the normal hallways, though, he stopped just inside the door. He was standing before a large set of double doors that the gang had passed by many times when entering the building, but had never really bothered to pay attention to.

From his pocket, he took a ring of keys and placed one into the doors’ silver lock. A click later, he was pushed them open to reveal a wide set of stairs which he immediately started to descend and the gang followed close behind.

"I never knew this place had a basement." Nick commented as they made the descent.

"Few do" was the mysterious reply.

At the bottom of the stairs was a large, cold, and almost empty room. The fluorescent lighting revealed a few old piles of sports equipment sitting against one wall, a few boxes marked "Climbing Supplies" along another, and a nearly empty shelf that held boxes of light bulbs and janitorial supplies.

"This is the storage area for the rec center, but we've never had much need for it," Mr. Kauffmann explained as he walked towards the back of the room, which was much shallower than the gang expected. On the back wall was a normal, grey door next to a white, metal roll-up door. He pointed to the normal one and said, "That leads to the boiler room and the machinery for the ice skating rink."

Then he pointed to the metal one. "And this one is Jack's. It was meant to be a place for us to store any valuables we'd acquire over the years and I wanted to store it all somewhere safe."

Mr. Kaufman stepped aside and motioned for Jack to come forward. He did so, pulling the key from his pocket as he knelt to the ground before the metal. His heart was pounding as placed the key into the door's padlock and then pushed it open.

The metal rolled into the ceiling, making a clacking noise as it did so. Inside was a room full of large objects leaning against walls, each other, or simply resting on the floor and each one was covered with a blanket.

"What is all this?" Jack asked as he looked around uncertainly.

Mr. Kaufman reached in and flicked on the light before replying, "Why don't you go and look?"

The others watched with bated breath as Jack nervously took hold of the blanket covering the closest object. With a shiver of anticipation, he pulled away the cloth, letting it fall to the floor by his side.

Jack gasped when he saw what it’s been covered and he let the cloth dropped from his hands as he reached forward, running his fingers along the painted wood. Then he smiled and leaned his head against the object, resting it on the faded image of a fairy. Memories of music and laughter filled his mind as he closed his eyes, emotions surging through him and making his hands tremble.

He stayed like that for a while and the others waiting for him to say something. When he was finally able to speak again he said, "I always assumed that these things were thrown out."

Mr. Kaufman came to stand by Jack, placing a firm hand on the boys shoulder. "There _was_ talk of throwing them out, but that wasn't anyone's choice to make, save yours. Your parents bought the materials and made these things themselves. No public funds were used, so they weren't public property. They belonged solely to the Frosts. I think they wanted to make sure that these went to someone who would make a better use of them than firewood should something happen. It was an odd request to put these things into their will, but I supported the idea wholeheartedly. It's all here."

Jack walked from object to object, pulling off the cloths that had hidden them for so long. When he had finished, he was standing amidst the entirety of the set pieces his parents had created all those long years ago for the summer festival.


	25. Chapter 25

The gang had watched the pieces be reveled in silence, allowing Jack to have his moment. Now that they were all in the open, though, Ana spoke. "Jack, what is all this stuff?"

For a moment, Jack didn’t respond, but then he turned to face them. His eyes were shinning and his face was the picture of happiness. "Guys, this is… Well, it's…."

He grasped for the words, but they wouldn't come, so he gave Mr. Kaufman a pleading look and the old man took over. "When Emma and Nathaniel Frost moved to Burgess, there wasn't much in this town in way of children's activities. They loved kids and didn't have their own yet, so they offered to organize some events for the local children. The biggest of these was a festival they held every summer. It started off as a small thing, just a couple of water games and a story teller, but by the time Jack came around, it was the most looked-forward-to day of the summer.

"The Frosts ran the whole thing, too. They organized the events, got the volunteers together, and funded a good portion of the expenses out of pocket. When they died, though, it died with them. No one wanted the task of trying to take their places. These things are the relics of that festival, the various set pieces Emma and Nathaniel made over the years. Jack, shall I explain their purpose or would you like to take over now?"

While Mr. Kaufmann had been speaking, Jack had finally reigned in his emotions and the question was all the prompting he needed to take over. The first piece he pointed to the piece he'd uncovered first, a large stage and parts of what looked like a fairy-tale castle. "This was the story stage, the first thing they ever made, and it was always at the very heart of the fair. The local acting group would always do a show, my mom and her friends would sing, and Mr. Kaufman would tell us stories."

He rushed to stand by a pile of identically-shaped pieces, each painted with its own color scheme. "And these were the game booths! We had different games every year. My parents would always ask me what I wanted to play and make that the main event."

He moved again, coming to rest by a larger version of the game booths that was painted with images of stuffed animals and toys. "And this was the prize booth! I always got to pick out the prizes with my mom."

Then Jack darted over to a pile of stakes and a large, white cloth. "Oh, and this was the food tent! My mom always made these little tarts in the shape of a heart and filled them with homemade jellies. There were caramel apples, too. Oh, and hot dogs! I ate so many one year I got sick!"

He came to the last part of the set now. It was a wide board with an arch cut out in the center and its sides were decorated with images of smiling children, fantasy creatures, and vibrant colors. "And this was the official entrance, not that most people used it. It was more of a photo opportunity than anything else, though it did have one other duty."

He knelt down beside the arch as he said this and took it in his hands, but realized quickly it was too big to life solo, so he said, "Aster, can you help me with this?"

The Australian quickly joined him and, together, they raised the arch to its standing height. Once it was upright, the duo saw that there were braces that could be pushed out to make the arch free standing attached to its back. They moved the bracers out from their resting position to their supporting one and then let go of the heavy piece of wood.

Now that they weren’t busy keeping the thing from falling over, Aster could see that the back of the arch was covered in a rainbow tapestry of handprints.

Only Jack and Aster could see them, though; so they motioned for the others to join them. Once they were all able to see, Jack explained, "Every year, anyone who helped with the fair could put their handprint of the back of the arch and sign their name."

Jack began to point out different handprints from over the years, reminiscing about the things those people had done, until he came to the bottom of the arch. In sky blue paint were two hand prints, side by side – his parents'. His voice faltered for a moment, but managed to finish with a quick, "And that's everything."

"Wow."

Jack grinned appreciatively at Aster's reaction and motioned around the room saying, "Go ahead, look around."

Jack watched as they explored until his eyes met those of Mr. Kaufman. The two shared a series of looks, an unvoiced conversation. When they'd finished, both were smiling: Mr. Kaufman with immense pride and Jack with a mix of embarrassment and determination.

His mind made up, Jack walked through the room and came to stand by Aster's side. While the Australian looked at the imagery painted on the face of one of the game booths, Jack spoke. "So, think we could repaint all of this by Saturday?"

"Probably." Then Aster realized what Jack had asked and he turned to stare at his friend in horror. "WHAT?"

Jack ignored his second reaction and beamed at him. "Great! A couple of us could come tomorrow after school and paint while the rest work on finishing up the preparations for Saturday. Or we could even start tonight!"

They were all staring at him now, but Jack ignored the stares. "Ana, do you think we can make these work for our layout? There aren't enough booths, only eight, but we could set it up so that we had a booth and then a boothless table and then a booth. That would make everything feel like it had its own area, at least."

Ana gaped at him. "Jack, these things are all you have left from your parents; we can't just repaint them!"

He ignored her, too. "And Nick, can you check over everything and make sure it's still in good condition? I'm pretty certain it will be, but you can't be too careful with things like this."

"Jack, we can't…"

Jack rolled his eyes and finally acknowledged his friends protests. "Guys, my parents made these things to bring happiness to children. For seven years they've laid down here, collecting dust, bringing joy to no one but termites and spiders. If I didn't use these them to make our fair be the best it could be then what was the point of keeping them all these years? The might as well have been firewood."

He smiled at the gang and continued. "My parents left these thing to me so that I could use them to continue their work, not so that I could look at the pretty pictures they painted on them. It's time that I did that."

No one said a word. Then, Aster ran his tan hand along the blue paint of the game booth beside him and sighed. "They're a different size then our booths were, but with a little redesign I can make them work. There's plenty of paint left."

Ana moved her right arm so that it was resting loosely on her left, a nervous posture she sometimes adopted, and said, "They look like they're actually bigger than our booths, truth be told, and your idea for the layout would work perfectly."

"I'll start looking over them now to make sure they're structurally sound," added Nick.

Jack gave his Christmas-loving friend a small bow as the large teen began to look over the pieces of the stage.

It was awkward at first, making plans to remodel these things, but Jack's enthusiasm for the project soon had the gang laughing and smiling once more.

* * *

After Nick had given the all-clear for using the summer festival pieces, the gang had driven back to Narvon and Nick had collected the paint from his workshop as Jack and Aster changed into old clothes and borrowed the Wilder's car. Then they’d swung by Ana’s, where Nick had gone to work on the remaining preparations, collected the paints, and driven back to Burgess to get started repainting, leaving the others to work on the last minute-details for the fair. Now it was time to get to work, but not before completing one, final task…

A camera flash lit up the tiny room, illuminating the painted wood of the final game booth.

"That's the last one," Jack said, turning off Ana's camera.

Aster nodded. "Ready to get painting?"

Jack grinned and gave his friend a thumbs up before adding, "I still can't believe that you're letting me help you with this!"

"And I can't believe you're letting us paint over these!" Aster replied, shaking his head in amusement. When he'd asked Jack if he'd like to help paint, the pale teen had been elated. To Aster, it had only seemed right that Jack should have a hand in any changes made to his inheritance.

Jack carefully placed the camera back in its protective case and said, "Stop acting so guilty! I wanna do this!"

Aster made a grunting noise and started to unload the painting supplies from a canvas bag. "Alright, well, the first things we're gonna repaint are the game booths."

He opened a can of white paint and dumped a good portion of it out into a metal tray. Then he squirted a bit of light-blue paint into it and mixed the two together before adding a bit more white. Once he’d mixed the concoction, Aster let the mixed paint drip off the end of a stirrer as he examining the color. A nod of approval later, he was motioning for Jack to join him. Together, they laid out a tarp along the floor of the main room and carried out the first of the booths, placing it on top of the plastic material.

At Aster's insistence, Jack made the first stroke, covering up the pink and green of a flower filled field with wintry white. Aster pretended to not notice as Jack's hands shook or the deep, steadying breath the albino took after he had finished the motion. He simply smiled back when Jack gave him his trademark grin.

After a long period of near-silent painting, the first booth was done and they stood up, giving their aching knees a break and taking a chance to admire their work. It was nowhere near as fancy as Aster's original creations, but it would do. In place of the finely-detailed images of curling frost, snow covered villages, and moonlight skaters that had decorated many of the original booths, this one was a sunny winter day with snowmen in the foreground and a snowy forest of pines in the background.

When he looked at Jack’s portion of the painting, Aster looped a paint covered hand around the smaller teen’s neck and let a noise of appreciation escape his dark lips. "You aren't a half bad painter, Frostbite."

“Neither are you,” Jack replied with a grin, making Aster laugh as he headed back into the storage room to get the next booth.

Together, they worked into the wee hours of the morning, managing to finish repainting all of the gaming booths before tiredly calling it quits and heading home. The drive back to Narvon passed in a stream of good-natured jibes and argument that only ended when Aster dropped an exhausted Jack off at the Overland's at nearly two in the morning.

Only when Aster's car had disappeared into the night did Jack turned around and faced the Overland's house. After everything that had happened at the hospital, he wasn't sure he wanted to see either of his foster parents just yet.

Unsurprisingly, he didn’t have a choice. They were still up and waiting for him in the kitchen.

"Jack, please come in here."

Jack obliged his foster father's request reluctantly and took his usual seat at the wooden table. The Overlands were huddled together at the far end, looking just as tired as he felt.

Once Jack was seated, Mrs. Overland said, "Jack, where have you been?"

"I was helping with preparations for the Christmas fair, ma'am."

His return to his old formality made Mrs. Overland wince, but he pretended not to notice it and simply continued his explanation.

"I apologize for worrying you. I hadn't realized I'd be getting home so late."

This was the Jack they'd lived with for all those years, the polite young man who was always smiling, but never warm. They could clearly see that their actions at the hospital had ruined all of the headway the pseudo-family had made since September.

"Jack, we're the ones who need to apologize." Mrs. Overland reached out to take Jack's hand, but stopped herself. "We didn't even give you a chance to explain yourself at the hospital. We immediately believed the police and that was wrong of us."

"We know that things can't go back to the way they were right away, but we want you to know…"

"Stop," Jack cut his foster father off, his expression troubled. He didn't want to hear this. "I… it's just…"

He ran a hand through his hair and let out a groan of annoyance. "Okay, let's try this again. I can't forgive you for the hospital, not completely, not yet."

Mr. Overland's shoulder slumped and Mrs. Overland turned her gaze to her hands, which were firmly clasped in her lap. There was nothing they could say to that. They had been in the wrong and they knew it.

"But I also can't entirely blame you for how you acted." Jack was looking out the kitchen window now, frosty eyes focused on the winter sky as he continued on slowly, pondering each word before he said it. "You're used to me being a troublemaker and having to clean up my messes. While I still can't believe you thought I'd do something as horrible as start that fire, I can believe you would be more… inclined to believe the police over me."

He rose from the table and pushed in his chair, then looked at his foster parents. "Though I get that, it doesn't change the fact that you wouldn't even hear my side. I… I need time before we have this talk. That's the best I can offer you right now."

He turned to leave, but then a thought occurred to him, though he didn’t turn around when he gave it voice. "I turn eighteen on Thursday. If you want, I'll pack my things and be gone by the end of the day. I'd like to stay here, though, at least until the end of high school, if you'll let me. I can pay you room and board with the money I'll be able to access once that I'm of age."

"Jack, you're welcome to stay with us for as long as you need, and you don't need to pay us." Mr. Overland sounded so defeated when he said these words that Jack almost turned around and smiled at the man, but he didn't. No more false smiles.

Instead, he nodded and left the room, then climbed the old stairs and fell into his bed. The Overlands would never be his parents, but at least he didn't need to worry about finding a new home come Thursday.


	26. Chapter 26

The next day passed in a blur.

Jack, normally an early riser, woke up at the last possible minute and rushed to school, arriving just before the morning bell. The rest of the gang joined him in this bad habit as they were all too sleep-deprived from the past few days to get up early enough for their morning meeting. They skipped the after school meeting too and, as soon as classes had ended for the day, Jack and Aster took off for Burgess and their waiting paint job.

They’d been at it for a few hours and were in the middle of working on the stage when Jack's phone started to ring. _Again_.

" _If all you see is how I look you miss the super chick within._ "

Both boys groaned. Ana had been calling them seemingly non-stop to have them take measurements of things or to run upstairs to check on something with Mr. Kaufman. Couldn't she have just called _his_ cell phone instead of pestering them? Yes, but, "It's so much more polite to ask him in person whenever we can."

Knowing there was no point in ignoring her, Jack set down his brush and popped open the phone, putting her on speaker. "What is it now, Ana?"

"Guys, you're not gonna _believe_ what just happened? It's the most amazing thing ever!"

They exchanged amused looks and Aster started painting once more, figuring it wasn’t anything that big since this seemed to be Ana’s attitude about everything these days.

"Mr. Black just gave us five thousand dollars!"

The brush clattered from Aster's hands, splattering paint across a smiling black bear sporting an elegant top hat as Jack said, "Come again?"

"You heard me! After what Pitch did, his father decided that the only proper thing to do would be to give us a substantial donation to 'further our philanthropic endeavors.' His words, not mine."

Jack didn't look too comfortable with the idea. "Isn't that, like, blood money?"

He could practically hear Ana's eyes rolling when she replied, "It would be blood money if we were dropping the charges on Pitch or something like that, but we’re not. Mr. Black is just embarrassed that his son used his donation to gain our trust when all he'd wanted to do was help us out."

Aster had notice Jack wince every time Ana said  _that_  name and made a mental note to avoid using it if at all possible as he said, "And what exactly are we gonna do with five thousand dollars four days before the fair, Ana?"

"For starters, I called the Burgess general store and they said that it would be no problem to double our apple cider order and throw in some extra hot chocolate mix. I called the rental place, too. They said we could get a second drink warmer and a popcorn machine for Saturday if we wanted them, which we obviously do. I also called the party store and got us two helium tanks and a bunch of snowflake balloons to match the theme, but we'll have to pick them up Friday since they don't open until ten on Saturday and that's _way_ too close to start time. Obviously I had to call the stores before they closed, so you two are the last ones to find out. Sorry!"

Nick's deep voice joined Ana's now. "Hey, don't forget the best part!"

"What do you… how is that the best part?"

"Because it's like a dream come true, Ana!"

"For you!"

"Um," Jack interrupted, "what's the other good news?"

"It's nothing, really. The party shop just asked us if we wanted to rent a Santa costume they had and I said yes. Nick's _super_ excited because I said he could play Santa and hand out balloons since we have enough volunteers to cover the game booths and since he's the only one with right proportions for the costume."

Jack laughed while Aster made a snorting sound and said, "I can't think of anyone better, Nick."

Then an idea occurred to Ana. "Hey, if Nick's gonna be Santa, you should be Jack Frost again!"

Jack’s grin immediately turned to a frown and he looked over at Aster, expecting the Australian to be sporting a mocking grin. Instead, he was giving Jack an appraising look. "I'll support you on that front, Ana."

Jack gulped, so much for support from his best friend! Dress up in that outfit? But then, everyone would be able to see him. "I don't know guys…"

"Jack, I spent hours making that thing and you wore it for all of two!" This exasperated reply was followed by an, "Oooooh, good idea Sandy!"

"What now?" Jack asked nervously. He wasn't sure if he wanted to hear this new, brilliant idea.

"He suggested that you should do a storytelling event," Ana explained for her silent friend. "There's a big gap in the entertainment schedule from three to four and you'd be the perfect way to fill it. We have lots of extra money now, so you could even have props to use when you bring kids on stage, as I'm sure you will."

Wearing an outfit that would let everyone see him and making a spectacle of himself to make sure they did? This fell under the "worst idea ever" category. In a last ditch attempt to avoid his fate, Jack said, "Mr. Kaufman always told stories in the past, maybe we should ask him?"

"Oh, right! That was the other reason I called. I need you guys you to see if Mr. Kaufman will let us rent out the ice rink. We can pay for the staff and skates now and I think it would be an _awesome_ addition."

Aster stood up and brushed off some dried flakes of paint as he said, "Sure, I'll go ask him now, if he's even still here. You go ahead and convince this gumby to do your show idea, Ana."

Jack looked after Aster helplessly as Ana started to plead with him to help out. When they realized Jack really wasn’t interested, Nick joined in, telling him how much fun it would be, but Jack still wouldn't budge. Then a tiny, excited voice came from the phone's speaker. "Jack, are you going to be the winter prince again and tell us stories?"

Jack glared at the phone. This was playing dirty and they knew it. "I don't know, Baby. I don't think I'd be very good at it."

"You would! You would!" He could just see her little face, formed into a tiny pout with her violet eyes all big and pleading. He knew exactly who had come up with this idea, too. He was going to have a word with Sandy about using children to make people do things.

"…alright, Baby, I'll do it for you, but you have to help me out up on stage if I get scared, okay?"

"Okay!"

"Alright, sweetie, give me back the phone now." He could tell Ana was grinning just from the triumphant tone in her voice.

"But I wanna talk to Jack more!"

"You can talk to him all you want next time you see him, but right now he's got work to do." Ana's voice was growing louder, meaning she probably had the phone again. That notion was confirmed when she quickly said, "Thanks again Jack. We'll talk to you later. Have fun painting!" and hung up before he had a chance to reply.

When Aster came back from talking with Mr. Kaufman, who had said yes to the ice skating idea, he found Jack working furiously at painting the stage with a huge scowl on his face.

"What happened?"

Jack glared up at him. "You abandoned me and they used underhanded tactics!"

Aster cocked his head to the side and treated his friend to a puzzled looked until Jack sighed and explained.

"They used Baby to get me to say yes."

Aster grinned and started to chuckle.  _Good job Sandy._

Jack's glare just became fiercer and he went back to painting while his amused friend refilled their paint trough, still chuckling as he did so.

* * *

The repainting job was finished that night and Wednesday found the whole gang working on last-minute preparations of various sorts until they were ready to collapse, which is what most of them did they second they got home.

Thursday, they met up after school, piled into the sleigh, and headed to their base of operations – Ana's house – for another day of work.

Just the sight of the house made Jack feel tired and he had to muffle a yawn as he got out of the car and followed Ana towards the building. Four o'clock in the afternoon and he was already exhausted. That didn't bode well for the coming weekend.

Ahead of him, Ana threw open the door to the house where, surprisingly, the mini's _weren't_ waiting for them.

"Where are the girls?" Jack asked, listening for the patter of little feet.

"I don't know. Come on, let's make sure everything's okay." Ana replied, looking worried as she headed inside.

Once were all in, they walked down the hallway to the playroom, a worried Jack leading the way and thereby missing the grins the others were exchanging.

Inside the playroom, five little girls were waiting amidst a sea of frosty-blue balloons and snow-white streamers with party hats on their little heads.

"SURPRISE!"

The cry came from both the girls and the gang, all of whom were grinning at the gaping Jack. Hearing her cue, Mrs. Romoli entered from kitchen with a large cake decorated in blue frosting with the words, "Happy Birthday, Jack," written in silver lettering. On top of the cake were two lit candles: one in the shape of an eight and the other in the shape of a one. Ana flicked out the lights for her mother and everyone sang "Happy Birthday" to the still-shocked Jack.

When the song ended Jack didn't blow out the candles. The little girls looked at him worriedly and came to surround him.

"Jack, are you okay? Did we do something wrong?" Lea asked, tugging on his shirt.

Jack shook his head and sunk down to his knees, grinning at them. "No, you guys did a great job. I'm just being silly. Now, who wants to help me blow out the candles?"

Mrs. Romoli bent down, allowing the girls access to the cake. With excited giggles, they blew out the candles for Jack and Mrs. Romoli took the cake back to the kitchen in order to serve it onto plates. It was a small party, lasting only half an hour before the gang had to get back to work on the fair, but it was the best birthday Jack had had in years.

* * *

"Ready for tomorrow, guys?" Jamie asked as the twins sat down and joined their friends for lunch lunch.

Claude swallowed the bite of sandwich he'd been chewing and grinned. "You bet! Free candy!"

Pipa laughed and said, "I'm more excited to hear Mrs. Jones sing with her group."

"Yeah, that'll be cool, but the ice skating is going to be the best," Jamie countered.

Others joined in, each adding what they were looking forward to the most. It was clear that Mr. Kaufman had done a good job getting the children of Burgess excited for the fair. Now, all that remained was for the gang to actually pull it off.


	27. Chapter 27

Jack and Aster looked across the gymnasium at the repainted booths and stage while Ana, Nick, and Sandy finished decorating the final Christmas tree. It was Friday evening, the day before the fair, and the gang had just finished setting up everything they could for the event. Tomorrow, they'd wake up early in the morning and rush around taking care of the remaining prep work, but for now they could just enjoy the sight of all their hard work starting to pay off. Jack wasn't enjoying it as much as he should have, though.

"I'm sorry," he murmured in a low voice so that only Aster could hear.

"Huh?" The artist tore his gaze away from their friends and looked at Jack in confusion, trying to figure out where the apology had come from.

In response to his friends questioning look, Jack motioned to the nearest booth, which had been decorated with present laden trees on a simple, red background. "These are nothing compared to originals and it's my fault. Without me, Pitch would never have gotten a chance to ruin your booths."

Aster rolled his eyes at this and slung an arm across Jack’s shoulder while saying, "He fooled all of us, mate."

Jack glanced at Aster and then back at the fair, still looking troubled. "Yeah, but you wouldn't have given him a chance if it hadn't been for me."

Aster removed his hand from Jack’s shoulder, grabbing the albino’s arm in the process, and turned his friend’s body so they were facing each other. Then, the Australian rested his hands on the shorter teen's shoulders and stared into Jack’s pale, blue eyes with a mixture of annoyance and disbelief. "Jack, stop bein’ an idiot. This isn't like you. What's going on?"

"Nothing," but the fact that Jack had lowered eyes and was now refusing to meet Aster’s gaze said otherwise. Not wanted to draw the other’s attention, Aster took Jack's hand in his and dragged him out of the gym into the corridor that led to the building's entrance. When the door closed behind them Aster came to a stop and turned to face Jack.

"Talk."

"It's stupid. Just forget about it."

Jack turned to go back into the room, but Aster grabbed him again, pinning him to the wall. Jack struggled a bit at first, but Aster was a lot stronger than him.

When he realized he was trapped, Jack’s lips quirked into a halfhearted grin and he asked, "Do you work out or something?"

Aster didn't even crack a smile at the joke, still waiting for Jack to answer the question.

He could actually feel Jack's shoulder slump in his grasp when the albino gave up and turned his gaze to the floor before whispering, "I make a mess everywhere I go."

Aster loosen his grasp lightly and asked, "What's the supposed to mean?"

Jack took a deep breath and confessed, "When Pitch found out I was joining you guys, he told me all I do is make messes and… he was right."

There was silence between the two, then Aster let go and punched Jack in the arm.

"Hey!" Jack cried out as he rubbed the spot and glared at his friend before asking, "What was that for?"

"For being a loony – that's what! We've known Pitch as long as you have, longer actually, and we've never trusted him. If anyone should have seen this coming it was us. Now stop beating yourself up, yah gumby!"

“Apparently I don't need to beat myself up since I've got you to do it for me!" Jack griped, smiling now, but still rubbing his arm.

Aster grinned. "What are friends for?"

Just then, Sandy opened the door to the gym and motioned for the two to come back inside, which they did. The overhead lights had been turned off in the gym so that the only light in the room came from the Christmas trees whose strings of fairy lights were filling the room in an enchanted glow. Together, the whole gang walked up onto the stage and looked around the room.

After a long silence, Ana gave an appreciative nod. "Tomorrow is gonna be awesome."

* * *

It was noon and the fair was in full swing, the sounds of laughter and carols echoing throughout the crowded room. Instead of joining in the fun, though, Jack was hiding in the back of the food tent, helping to cook hot dogs. He’d hoped he’d be able to hide there for a while, but apparently Aster had other plans.

"You know you can't hide back here all day, right?"

Jack glanced up at the sounds of the Australian’s voice and grinned sheepishly. "Just another hour, okay?"

"Nope, not gonna happen. Get him, girls!"

The minis and Sophie, who had been standing out of sight, rushed in and grabbed Jack, dragging him from the tent. Jack glared daggers at Aster as they went by, but the only response he got was an innocent smile and a little wave.

Once Jack was out of the tent, Aster turned to the woman who was running the kitchen and gave a tiny bow. "Sorry ma'am, but we need our snowy friend out on the fair floor."

She smiled back and hurried to grab another ream of plastic cups. "No complaints here, dear. I was terrified he'd get something on that lovely outfit and ruin it!"

Aster winked at her and turned to follow Jack and his fan girls who were currently dragging the snowy-haired teen through the fair, attracting many surprised and amused glances from the fairgoers. Many of the adults obviously recognized the teen, but no one called out to him, much to Jack's relief. That didn’t mean he didn’t want to know where they were taking him, though.

"Girls, where are we going?"

"To play the games!" was the chorused reply.

See that his work was done, Aster hurried off to his post at the arts and craft tent, trusting the girls to make sure Jack actually took part in the fair. The whole gang had agreed that they didn't care if Jack spent the day playing around instead of helping, as long as he got rid of his cold feet and had some fun. They just hoped that nothing happened with the Bennetts to ruin the day.

* * *

"Come on, Mom, we're already late! Everyone else is probably there by now!"

Jamie and Pippa were impatiently waiting by the door for their parents to join them so that they could leave for the fair. In response to their cry, Mrs. Bennett came rushing down the stairs, putting in an earring as she walked. "Sorry dears, that phone call from your grandmother took longer than I thought!"

"Can we go now?" Jamie asked, bouncing up and down on the balls of his feet.

"Yes, yes, get your coats on and get in the car. I'll go and get your father."

The twins did as they were told and hurried into the family's garage, piling into a blue minivan. The Bennetts soon joined them and the family started on its way to the fair.

Unsurprisingly, Pippa sang Christmas carols the whole way there and, for once, Jamie joined in without prompting.

* * *

When they got to the fair, the twins rushed inside to find their friends, leaving their parents to trail behind. The duo quickly found Amber, Claude, and a few others working on making their own snow globes in a craft booth. The whole thing was being run by a tall, bronze-skinned teenager with a red bandana in his hair who stopped short when he saw Jamie and Pippa. His bright, green eyes widened a bit, but his mouth quickly formed into a smile. "Hey, did you two want to make a snow globe?"

"It's really fun, Pippa," Amber added, noticing her friend in the entryway. "Come and join us!"

Aster provided his best friend's siblings with snow globe kits and left them to work with their friends after a few simple instructions. It took a lot of effort for him to keep working and not stare at the two. The little boy’s face was almost a carbon copy of Jack’s and brother’s mannerisms were nearly identical. The little girl was clearly a Frost, too. Her smile and laugh were instantly recognizable from weeks spent seeing and hearing their doubles come from her older brother. No wonder Jack hid his face – it didn't take much to see the family resemblance.

The children finished their globes and wandered out into the fair after thanking Aster, who silently hoped Jack would be okay.

* * *

Through sheer dumb luck, the twins didn't even catch sight of Jack as they explored the fair. While they were munching on caramel apples and listening to carols, he was helping the little girl learn how to ice skate. By the time the twins made it to the ice rink, Jack had been dragged off to the craft tent, where Aster kept his mouth shut about his encounter with the twins and focused on making his baby sister giggle. When Nick was giving Pippa a balloon and trying not to let it show that he knew exactly who she was, Jack was wiping ketchup off of Sophie's mouth on the opposite end of the room. Ana almost cried the first time she saw the kids, which had occurred while she was bringing more supplies to one of the game booths, but she had held it in and plastered a huge smile on her face as the passed by her.

Sandy, who was running the sound booth, also saw the former Frosts pass by several times. Each time, he watched the children until they disappeared into the crowd. Every member of the gang could now see why the Overlands had warned them of possible doom. The ache they felt at the sight of Jamie and Pippa couldn't even compare to what they knew Jack had to feel every time he came to see them. As the fair went on, they all found themselves subconsciously preparing to find Jack hidden away in some dark corner somewhere by the day's end.

Sandy was so worried that, when Jack came to the sound booth to get the mic he'd need for his performance, the golden-haired teen took the time to lay a comforting hand his friend’s shoulder and give him a look that clearly meant, “we won’t force you.”

Jack simply smiled and strapped on the mic. before heading out towards the stage. It was too late to turn back now.

* * *

Pippa, Jamie, and company made their way to the central stage where Pippa's choir director, Mrs. Jones, was scheduled to perform at four o'clock. They’d initially planned to just go then, but Amber wanted to watch the show that was going on beforehand, an interactive storyteller, saying that it sounded really fun. The kids found seats in the center of the crowd and watched as a tall man dressed like some sort of prince came onto the stage with a bucket of props. He introduced himself as Jack Frost, the spirit of winter, who was here to tell them a story. All of the children listened in wonder as the man began to tell them the story of his best friend, the lovely winter princess, and the handsome prince of summer who had to travel to the land of darkness to save the world from a spell of eternal night cast by the evil King of Shadows.

Different children got to volunteer to play the roles of the different characters the two heroes encountered along the way. Claude even got to play the evil king.

When the storyteller had come to pick Claude and had seen Jamie and Pippa, he'd paused for a moment and then cleared his throat before moving on with the story. The twins didn't even realize they'd been the cause of the fumble and Jack used all of his willpower to keep his mind on the story instead of who was in the audience.

"He's super cute!" Amber, whispered to Pippa as the storyteller led Claude away.

Pippa looked at the man on the stage. He was really cute, but something about him reminded her too much of Jamie to find him attractive. As she watched the story unfold, the similarities between this man and her brother really started to stand out, too. Especially when he smiled. That was the smile that graced both her and her brother’s face. It was a bizarre experience. She'd have to tell Jamie about it once they got home because she doubted he'd noticed it at all.

When the show ended, Jamie and Pippa giggled as the man made an exaggerated bow to his audience. Then they began to clap loudly as Jack cleared off the stage to make room for the next act, Mrs. Jones' singing group. When the singers began to make their way towards the stage and past the gathering of children, Mrs. Jones caught sight of Pippa and Jamie sitting in the crowd.

"Pippa, dear," she called to the little girl, "I was hoping to see you! Mr. Lawrence is sick so our show is going to go a little short and I wondered if you'd like to sing a song for us to flesh it out a bit."

The choir director winked at her favorite student and the other band members nodded in agreement. Pippa grinned brightly and made her way over to the woman's side with Jamie in tow. "I'd love to!

Then she turned to her twin and said, "Jamie, you should sing with me!"

"Me?" The boy shook his head. "No way, sis!"

Pippa gave him her deadly pout, but not even that would sway her twin to sing in front of an audience.

"No way, Pippa. Get someone else."

Pippa looked crestfallen. Jamie had never resisted her before. Then, out of the corner of her eye, she caught a flash of white. She turned to find the source and saw Jack bending down and talking to a little girl with blonde hair by the edge of the stage. Fine, if Jamie wouldn't sing with her she'd just get the next best thing, a Jamie clone. Surprising everyone, she marched down the aisle to stand behind her big brother.

Jack only became aware of the situation when he felt a tap on his shoulder and turned from talking with Sophie to find himself looking into the wide, pleading, chocolate-brown eyes of his baby sister.

"Will you sing with me?"


	28. Chapter 28

"Will you sing with me?"

Jack stared at Pippa while Jamie hurried to stand by her, laughing. "Pippa, not everyone likes singing as much as you do!”

Then the boy turned to Jack, grinning up at his big brother as he said, “Sorry, she's always trying to make people sing with her, though she normally only bothers people she knows."

"Well," Pippa was blushing now but she pressed on, "He looks like you and so I thought, since you wouldn't, maybe he would?"

Jamie laughed harder and shook his head in amusement. "Pippa…"

"Sure, I'll sing with you," Jack choked out the words, interrupting Jamie. His baby sister was talking to him. She could have asked him to fly her to the moon and he would have said yes.

When she heard his reply, Pippa stuck her tongue out at her surprised twin and grinned with elation as she said, "Great!"

Then she grabbed Jack's hand and pulled him along to where Mrs. Jones and her band were watching with a mix of shock and wonder. "Mrs. Jones, I found a singing partner!"

Jack was too busy staring at the perfect, little hand resting in his to really care what was happening, but he managed to tear his gaze away and give the woman who had once been his own choir teacher a high pitched, nearly hysteric sounding, "Hi."

"Hello, Jack," Mrs. Jones said, smiling awkwardly at the son of the woman who'd once led this same singing group. Before she spoke again, the choir teacher silently asked Emma to watch over what was about to happen, then said, "I think you chose a great partner, Pippa. So, what are you two going to sing?"

Pippa looked up at Jack, her hand still holding onto his. "Why don't you pick? I know most Christmas songs, so choose anything!"

Jack knelt down so he was on level with Pippa and did his best to keep his voice from cracking as he asked, "Anything?"

She nodded and beamed at him.

Jack thought about it for a minute, doing his best to keep from reaching out and hugging his sister. He knew all her favorite songs from years spent watching her sing and he chose his favorite of these. "How about  _Baby, Please Come Home_?"

She bobbed her head excitedly and giggled before saying, "I sang that as a solo just last weekend!"

Jack gulped. That giggle was going to be his undoing if he didn't keep it together, but he was able to keep his voice from sounding even the tiniest bit strained when he replied, "Huh, what are the odds?"

As Mrs. Jones informed them that she would be able to accompany that choice on the guitar, Jamie asked, "Should I go and get Mom and Dad, Pip?"

Pippa shook her head. "Nah, they've heard me sing this one a thousand times by now. Let them do whatever they're doing."

The male twin nodded, then turned to Jack and asked, "Well, do you need to go and get your parents?"

"All their kids are here, so I'm pretty sure they're already watching," was all Jack could think to say in response.

Jamie cocked his head at the odd response and shrugged before taking a seat in the front row beside Sophie and the minis. The little girls seemed to realize something big was happening and were sitting in uncharacteristic silence, watching Jack and the brown-haired girl by his side as they walked onto the stage together.

Once the group had made their was onto the stage, Mrs. Jones pulled out her guitar, looking warily at the still star struck Jack as she began to tune the instrument. Sandy, who had watched the entire exchange take place from the sound booth, was busily texting Ana, Nick, and Aster about what was going on at the stage. By the time Jack and Pippa had gotten their mics set up and were ready to start, the entire gang was hiding out in the sound booth, watching with bated breath.

When the siblings indicated that they were ready, Mrs. Jones played a short intro and then Pippa began, belting out the familiar words:

" _The snow's coming down,_

_I'm watching it fall._

_Lots of people around,_

_Baby, Please come home."_

Now it was Jack's turn. In a sweet, melodic tenor that only shook slightly he sang:

_"The church bells in town,_

_All singing a song._

_Full of happy sounds,_

_Baby, please come home."_

Pippa was elated to find her partner had a good voice and together they rang out the chorus:

_"They're singing deck the halls,_

_But it's not like Christmas at all._

_Cause I remember when you were here,_

_And all the fun we had that year."_

By now the audience had swelled in size as people realized just exactly who was singing. The Bennetts, curious at the commotion and recognizing their daughter's voice had joined the crowd, only to find their little girl singing with the last person they'd ever expected.

_"Pretty lights on the trees,_

_I'm watching them shine,_

_You should be here with me,_

_Baby, please come home."_

As the two harmonized through the second verse, tears began to streak down Mrs. Bennett's face and she actually had to choke back a sob when the verse broke into a short guitar break during which Jack reached out and took Pippa's hand's, twirling the giggling little girl around before they started the next chorus:

_"They're singing deck the halls,_

_But it's not like Christmas at all._

_Cause I remember when you were here,_

_And all the fun we had that year."_

Mrs. Bennett was sobbing now as her husband held her close, though neither of them knew what to do.

Mr. Kaufman, who had been watching both the Bennetts and the Frosts during the song, moved through the crowd towards the upset couple. After he’d found a place by their side, he reached over and tapped Mrs. Bennett's shoulder. When she pulled her tear streaked face from her husband chest and faced him, he said, "Emily, if you tell them now, the longest they'll be is upset with you for is a few days. If you wait until they're adults, they may resent you for it for the rest of their days. Why not let your children decide for themselves if they want Jack in their lives?"

_"If there was a way,_

_I'd hold back these tears_

_Boy, it's Christmas day,_

_Baby, please come home."_

Mrs. Bennett gave a tiny nod as the guitar cut off and the duo sang the final verse acapella:

_"They're singing deck the halls,_

_But it's not like Christmas at all._

_Cause I remember when you were here,_

_And all the fun we had that year."_

Then Jack bowed lightly to Pippa, ready to leave the stage, but stopped short when the little girl wrapped him in a tight hug. As Jack knelt down and hugged his baby sister for the first time in seven years, Mrs. Bennett wiped away her lingering tears and headed towards the stairs that the duo would soon be walking down.

When the hug was over, Jack and Pippa left the stage their parents had made hand in hand, only to find the Bennetts waiting, a nervous looking-Jamie at their side.

As Mrs. Jones' group started to play the notes of "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree," Mr. Bennett said, "Pippa, dear, we need to talk."

The little girl let go of Jack's hand and went to stand by her adoptive father as Jack felt his elation replaced with fear. What had he been thinking? The Bennetts were never going to let him near the twins again. Instead of leading Jamie and Pippa away from him, though, Mr. Bennett sighed and said, "Jack, I think you should come with us."

That was unexpected. Jack had been planning to gather up the girls, give them to one of the gang, and finding a nice corner to bawl his eyes out in. Now, he didn't know what to do. Aster appeared from nowhere and motioned for Jack to go, saying that he would take care of the girls. Not knowing what else to do, Jack nodded nervously and followed after the stern-looking Bennetts and the confused twins.

Together, the five of them made their way out of the fair and into the hallway that led to the building's offices.

* * *

"Not good, not good, not good," Ana was nearly hyperventilating. She'd arrived within seconds of Sandy's text and was watching the scene on stage with growing dread. There was no way Jack was going to be able to hold it together for an entire song! What was he doing?

Nick, still in his Santa suit, joined them. When he saw Jack he moaned. "I was hoping this was all a dumb joke. What do we do?"

"Nothing," Aster replied as he stepped into the booth. "We do nothing but wait and be ready to move if things go south."

As Pippa finished the first verse and Jack opened his mouth to sing, the gang held their breaths. When he  _started_  to sing, however, their mouths dropped open. Jack could  _sing_.

As he and Pippa sang, Ana began to cry and even the boys looked a little wet around the eyes. For all the emotions they knew Jack was feeling right then, he wasn't showing anything but happiness.

As the song drew to a close, Mr. Kaufman peeked into the booth. "Kids, one of you needs to go and take care of the gaggle of little girls Jack's been watching,  _now_!"

"What's wrong?"

"It is my belief that the Bennetts are going to tell the twins everything in a matter of moments."

Aster was out of the booth before the rest of the gang even had time to process the words.

* * *

Jack was standing awkwardly by the door that led back into the fair while the Bennetts sat down and drew a very confused Pippa and Jamie into their laps. Mrs. Bennett had her arms wrapped around her daughter, her face hidden in her hair, and her body was shaking.

"Mom, what's wrong?" Pippa felt very afraid. Had she done something wrong by singing with the strange boy?

"Pippa, sweetie, it's okay, you didn't do anything wrong," her father said, taking her small hand in his right hand and Jamie's in his left.

The little girl was relieved, but still concerned. "Why is mommy crying then?"

Mr. Bennett looked at his wife and asked, "Emily, are you okay?"

She nodded into Pippa's hair, still unable to speak.

With a sigh, Mr. Bennett turned to Jack, trying to defuse the growing tension. "Jackson, why don't you sit down, too?"

Slowly, Jack walked forward and sat down, closer to the family than he had been, but still far enough away that he was clearly not a part of the group. Mr. Bennett accepted this and turned his gaze back to his children.

"Jamie, Pippa, do you remember what happened when you were five?"

The twins thought about it for a minute before Jamie took a guess. "We were officially adopted, right?"

Mr. Bennett nodded. He and his wife had never hidden the fact that Jamie and Pippa were not their biological children from them. With the Bennett's light blond hair and blue eyes, the twins would have had questions anyway, but they had never once talked about it openly. It was more of a secret that everybody knew and nobody mentioned.

"That's right," Mr. Bennett had to stop and swallow the lump in his throat before continuing, "We loved you two so much that we wanted you to be our kids, even if we weren't your birth parents."

The twins were smiling now. The few times they'd asked about their past, this had been all the answer they'd been given. It always made them feel special. As Jamie leaned against his father's chest and looked over at Jack, who was busily staring at the floor, he saw a silver tear cascaded down the older boy's nose and fall to the floor. Wondering what was wrong; he got off of his father's lap and went over to Jack. Sensing the presence nearing him, Jack looked up, revealing watery blue eyes.

Jamie frowned. "Are you okay?"

As Jack silently nodded his head, willing the tears to go away, another thought occurred to the male twin.

"Wait, daddy. Why did you make him come along, too?"

Mr. Bennett sighed and massaged the bridge of his nose with his free hand, uncertain how to explain to the ten-year-old that the boy before him was his biological brother. Mrs. Bennett was still crying and holding Pippa tight while watching Jack with wary eyes, like he might rip her daughter away from her.

"That's because…" Mr. Bennett stopped, lost. What could be possibly say?

"Daddy?" Pippa was speaking now. "Why does he look like Jamie if you took all the colors away?"

As her father gaped at her and moved his mouth up and down in silence, she gave up on him and addressed Jack. "Well, why do you look like Jamie?"

Jack laughed in desperation, not knowing what to say, and Jamie grinned, saying, "I don't know about him looking like me, but he laughs like you."

Pippa started to retort when the light went on in both of their heads. Jamie and Pippa were bright kids. Jack had been brought along with them to a talk about their birth parents. Jack looked like Jamie. Jack had Pippa's laugh. Jack had their smile. That could really only mean one thing.

Jamie leaned forward, brown eyes meeting icy blue, and an old memory surfaced. He remembered those eyes. In a halting voice, the little boy whispered, "I remember you."

The look on Jack's face said it all. Jamie, unsure what else to do, leaned forward and wrapped his tiny arms around the shocked teen as Pippa pushed her mother away and moved to join them. Together, they hugged Jack and he held them both so tight it felt like he'd never let go.


	29. Chapter 29

Jack was enjoying this dream a good deal. He knew that was what had to be going on, because there was no way this was actually happening. No way that the twins knew he was their brother. No way Pippa and Jamie were in his arms. No way.

"Jack?" Pippa whispered into his ear.

"Hmm?" He replied, not bothering to pull back and look at her. He'd spent far too long looking at her these past seven years. Holding her was a thousand times better.

"Why haven't we seen you before?"

Now Jack did pull back, his hands resting against the twins' shoulders as he looked from them to the Bennetts who had risen to their feet and were watching the Frosts with worried eyes. While the adults looked scared, the twins didn’t. They just looked curious and uncertain, so Jack grinned at them, wanting nothing more than to make them smile. "Well, you may not have seen me, but I've _always_ watched over you."

The twins exchanged a look and Jamie asked, "Really?"

Jack laughed. "Yeah! I've come to every one of your soccer games, Jamie. I probably cheered the loudest when you kicked that winning goal in the title match last year. And Pippa? I've yet to miss a concert. How do you think I knew your favorite song?"

The twins looked surprised, but pleased.

Jack rose to his feet, taking their tiny hands in his. "In fact, I even helped plan this whole fair just so you two could have some fun, Jack Frost style!"

The twins were smiling now.

"But I didn't do it alone. Do you wanna meet my friends?"

The twins looked back at their parents for approval and their father nodded while their mother hid her face in his chest, shoulders shaking. "Go ahead. We'll meet up with you when you're ready to go."

Having been given permission, the Frost siblings left the hallway and walked into the fair that Jack had spent the last four months making for them.

* * *

"Aster, where Jack?"

Hearing his baby sister's question, Aster sighed and picked her up while saying, “He’s just busy right now, Soph.”

Sophie smiled sadly rested against his chest as he rubbed her back, whispering comforting words while the minis looked on. He'd taken charge of Jack's fan club and brought them back to the craft tent with him, but the little girls were all clearly worried about their idol. He'd been gone a long time now and Aster was worried, too. What if the Bennetts had left and Jack was somewhere sobbing his eyes out?

The Australian teen held Sophie close and looked across the fair with mournful eyes, only to find himself staring at Jack Frost walking through the fair hand-in-hand with his siblings. Many people were stopping as the Frosts passed and watching them continue on their way. Practically everyone in the small town knew the basics of the siblings' estrangement and seeing them together again brought smiles to every face.

Nick, who’d been handing out balloons nearby, made his way to join Aster and they were standing side by side when Jack, Jamie, and Pippa joined them.

Jack knelt down by his siblings and pointed to the astonished teens. "Jamie, Pippa, these are my friends."

He pointed to Nick, took in the costume, and grinned when he introduced his friend as "Santa Claus."

Then he got that mischievous glint in his eyes as he pointed to Aster and said, "… and the Easter Bunny."

Aster spluttered indignantly, decidedly not okay with the return of _that_ nickname, while Nick burst into laughter.

Pippa giggled and Jamie smiled, continuing the joke. "Where's the tooth fairy, then?"

Ana chose that moment to come bursting into the booth through the back. She stopped short at the sight of the Frosts and looked at Jack wide-eyed.

"Perfect timing, Ana," Jack chuckled, winking at her before looking at Jamie and continuing. "That's her."

Both twins were giggling now.

"And who are you then?" Pippa asked.

Jack let go of their hands and stood to his full height, motioning to his outfit in a grand, sweeping gesture as he replied, "I told you earlier, didn't I? I'm Jack Frost!"

Aster rolled his eyes. "Hey, Frostbite, are you gonna introduce them or make jokes all day?"

Jack's lips twisted into a mocking smirk. "Can't I do both?"

Then he rested his hands on the tops of the twins' heads and smiled at his friends, "Guys, this is Jamie and this is Pippa, my little brother and sister."

"You have a sister!" came the cry, as Baby and the other minis piled out from the booth and surrounded Jack.

"Whoa," Jamie cried, stepping back, closer to Jack, at the sudden flood of Ana clones. "What's with all the mini tooth fairies?"

Jack shrugged and said, "She needs a lot of helpers, that's all."

Aster, having had more than enough of this joke, called the girls back to him. Unwillingly, they obeyed.

"Girls," Aster said sternly, "Jack's going to spend some time with his family while you stay here and try not to use up all my craft supplies, okay?"

The girls sadly chorused "okay" and took their seats once more as Jack gave Aster a grateful smile and told the twins to lead the way to wherever they wanted to go. Jamie and Pippa nodded happily and began to pull him towards the ice skating rink where they hoped to find Claude and Amber.

Aster and the gang watched them leave, smiling, but the smile disappeared from Aster's face as Pippa chipped, "I never pictured the Easter Bunny as an Australian."

Jack, Ana, and Nick's laughter echoed through the fair as Aster stomped back into the booth, scowling. It looked like more than just looks ran in the family.

* * *

"Your brother is so cool, like a prince!" Amber whispered to Pippa as the two girls stepped onto the ice. Jack was still lacing up his own skates and had told them to go ahead and get started without him. Claude and Jamie had rushed ahead, leaving the two girls in the dust. They didn't mind, though – they had things to talk about.

The four of them and Jack were the only people in the ice rink at the moment since there was currently a magician performing at the stage. Amber didn't like magic much and Claude was tired of sitting, so they'd skipped out and come here instead.

"I know! I still can't believe I have an older brother." Pippa said, looking at Jack as she said this. The frosty-eyed teen was looking back at her and smiling as he pulled on his skates. "But it's really fun to have him around."

"Isn't it awkward? I wouldn't know how to act around him." Amber made this comment so quietly, Pippa could barely hear it.

She thought about it for a seconds, then shook her head and whispered back, "No, it's really easy! I would have thought it'd be hard, but it isn't. He's just too fun to let anything be awkward."

Amber made an appreciative noise and watched as Jack stood up and walked to the ice, quickly skating over to them and asking, “It’s Amber, right?”

Amber nodded shyly and then said, “If you’re the prince of winter, doesn’t that mean you have super powers of something?”

Pippa looked at her friend and giggled. “That was just an act, silly.”

“No it wasn’t.”

Both girls looked at Jack who was grinning with a mischievous glint in his eyes as he realized that, if there was ever a time to show off, it was now. Without another thought, he said “just watch.” Then he flew across the ice and leapt into the air, performing a simple rotation while keeping an eye out for the racing boys.

When he landed, he skated back over to the girls, appreciating the looks of wonder plastered on both faces. "Bet you didn't know I could do that!"

"That was wicked!" Claude announced, skating to a stop by Jack while Jamie skated to Pippa's side.

"Totally wicked," the male twin agreed, beaming. "I bet  _your_  brother can't do that, Claude."

Jack laughed and skated away backwards as he asked, "Wanna see another trick?"

The question was met with enthusiastic cries and Jack took off like a flash.

He did a whole routine for the kids, ending only when he noticed the growing audience in the stands beyond. Blushing, but grinning at the applause that the end of his performance conjured, he rejoined the twins and allowed them to lead him back into the fair for some well-deserved hot chocolate and listened with pleasure as his routine netted him the place of "coolest big brother, ever."

* * *

The last two hours of the fair had been a heady rush for Jack. He'd allowed Jamie and Pippa to lead him wherever they wanted and they'd taken full advantage of the chance to show off their new big brother. He'd met many of their friends, who were shocked to find out the twins had a brother, and their teachers, who were shocked to find out the twins  _knew_ they had a brother. As the fair drew to a close, though, Jack realized he'd better get them back to their parents.

They found the Bennetts standing near the fair's exit, waiting.

When they were near the adults, Jack knelt down to the twin's height and smiled at them. "I had a great day! How about you?"

They nodded, looking sad as they realized this was goodbye.

"You'll stop hiding from us now, right?" Pippa asked, her chocolate-brown eyes wide with hope.

Jack laughed and nodded. "Duh! I'm never letting you two go again!"

Then he pulled them close, wiping the frowns away, making them giggle with his antics. When he let them go he said, "Your parents have my number. You can call me any time, okay?"

The twins nodded and hugged Jack one last time before saying goodbye and rushing to stand with their waiting, wary-eyed parents.

Jack waved after them as they left the fair, smiling ear to ear. He didn't know what lay ahead for him and his siblings, but he'd treasure these last few hours for the rest of his life.

* * *

"All done!" Ana cried as the gang laid the final piece, the stage, against the floor in the storage room. The volunteers were gone, the rented pieces had been returned, and the gang was finally finished taking the set pieces back to their resting place.

Nick let out a whoop of elation at the announcement while Sandy clapped lightly. Aster just smiled and turned to look at Jack.

"Really, that's it?" The albino asked, almost as if he couldn’t believe it.

Ana nodded. "Yep, we can go home now!"

"Oh…" suddenly tears were pooling in Jack's eyes and the others stopped their mini celebration to watch him worriedly. Seeing their gazes trained on him he adopted a puzzled expression while the first tear streaked down his face. When it landed on his hand he reached up, looking surprised, and brushed thin, pale fingers along his wet cheek. "Hey, look at that! I'm crying!"

He started to laugh and the tears grew stronger, soaking his face. No longer able to stand, he turned around and sat down on the stage they'd just carried down here, hiding his face in his hands. He was laughing, sobbing, and shaking now, the day's emotions finally catching up.

Ana reacted first, starting to push the other boys out of the room, but Aster resisted. Instead, the Australian teen walked over to Jack and pulled him to his feet.

"Come on, mate, you've gotta be starving. I didn't see you eat a thing all day."

Jack smiled and wiped away the tears before whispering, "They saw me, Aster. They saw me!"

Asted grinned back at him. "Hey, guess what, I can see you too, Frostbite."

Jack blinked in surprise and started to laugh as he willingly following Aster out of the room to where the rest of the gang was waiting. Together, the five of them climbed the stairs out of the basement and left the rec center, laughing and arguing over what restaurant they should go to in order to celebrate the totally success of the fair.


	30. Chapter 30

The doorbell rings and two grinning children rush to answer its call. They know who’s here. Outside, in the frosty air, waits their brother. His winter white-hair is blowing in a faint breeze and his pale skin is flushed from the winter's chill, but his blue eyes are bright with excitement.

"Ready to go?"

Nods are the only reply as tiny feet rush to grab shoes and jackets. Their mother comes from the kitchen to see them off and gives the boy who is taking them from her a small smile. One day, in the distant future, he will be welcome with the warmest of hugs, but that day will not come for many years. For now, just being able to enter her house is enough.

He returns the smile and gives her a small wave before excited hands drag him outside. Hand-in-hand, the trio walks down the sidewalks of the small town, smiling and greeting everyone they see. All three children are known and welcome here.

They reach an intersection and turn to the right, leaving the crowded streets for ones less busy. Soon they are standing outside of a low, gray building. The big brother rushes them inside to where an old man is patiently waiting.

The man greets them warmly and guides them through the building to where an uninhabited ice rink waits. The children buckle on skates and the big brother makes sure they are well fastened. Then, together, the children of Nathaniel and Emma Frost skate out onto the ice, laughing, the first people to touch the rink.

* * *

**Final Author's Note** : This is it gang, time to say goodbye to this little fic of mine. When I finish a piece I normally like to add some notes about why I wrote the story and where the idea came from for the few people who'd like to know those things so here it goes:

I love high school AU and I read the three or four that were around when I started this story, but none of them fit what I was looking for. Mostly because none of them had a plot where Jack had a sister/brother who was still alive. It seemed like everyone had just gone with the "someone needs to die in a pond" idea and stuck that role on Jack’s sibling(s) or family. So I got this idea: what if Jack and his sister were merely separated? When I wrote chapter one it was with the idea of Jack having a single sibling (who knew he existed) but never got to see him. Then I sat down to write out the backstory for Jack. In doing this I wrote a scene that never made it into the final story and I still don't know what inspired me to write it as I did, but I loved the idea it gave me. In this scene, the gang saw Jack's sister and recognized her somehow, but she didn't acknowledge Jack. This lead Jack to admit he was "invisible" to her, meaning she didn't know who he was. A lot of his lines from that original scene were tweaked into the Overland's dialog from chapter six and the rest is history.

I also believe AU should never make a character majorly OOC otherwise it's not as fun. I'm pretty pleased with how well the gang came across and I may have made Pitch a bit too psycho, but I'm okay with that. Jack, though, was hard. It's interesting to write a character who had this very heavy and dark past constantly weighting on them, but is also fun loving and free. Jack being suicidal or a cutter was not going to work, but neither was a constant fun and no depth Jack. That's why he is only openly sad when alone or with the Guardian character once he considers them friends. You can be the judge of if I got him right, I think I did.

As a minor aside before I sign off, I’d like to explain a little bit about Mr. Moon’s role in all this. The idea behind his character was that, in small town, there wouldn’t be enough children for the high school to have an employee whose only job was dealing with foster kids and the like. Thus you get a councilor who’s also a teacher. I’m not sure if a person like Manfred Moon would actually be called a social worker in real life, but I couldn’t find a better term to use and it got the idea across.

Thanks for reading and happy holidays.

~Miki


	31. Appendix I: Timeline

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The following is a timeline for the events of the story and is meant as a companion for those who are interested in such things

Time Line For Whole Story

2005

October 21st – Frost's Die and the Children are sent to the hospital

October 23th – Social Services places Jamie and Pippa

October 24th – Jack goes to live with the Overlands

November 6th – Jack starts "living" again

November 14th – Jack Starts School again

2006

January 15th – Jack gives up the twins

January 16th – Jack tell Pitch everything

2012

September 4rd – classes start

September 5th – Mr. Moon tells gang they need to invite Jack to join

September 6th – Jack joins

September 7th – Jack meets the minis

September 8th – trip to Burgess

September 15th – cleaning out the closet

September 22nd – Jamie's Game, Big reveal, Tree Picking, Pitch makes his move

September 24th – Jack gets a phone

September 27th – Jack sits with the gang at lunch

September 28th – Work begins on making booths

October 1st – Halloween discussion, Aster begins to paint booths

October 17th – Pitch remembers

October 21st – Death Anniversary, Pitch Strikes, Jack Found

October 22nd – Pitch found

October 25th – Jack awakens

October 26th – Pitch tells his story

October 29th – Jack and Pitch released, Jack talks to parents

October 30th – Jack Returns to School

October 31st – Halloween/Jack tells Aster his past

November 1st – Pitch Returns to School

November 2nd – Pitch joins the gang (oh no!)

November 3rd – Taking booths to Burgess/North learns of Jack's past

November 5th – Talking to Mr. Moon about Donation

November 10th – Pitch's first time at Nick's/Pitch's new car arrives

November 21st – Pippa gets solo

November 26th – Cast comes off, brace goes on/Jack learns of Pippa's concert

November 27th – Pitch learns of Pippa's concert

December 5th – Brace comes off

December 8th – Final booths taken over

December 9th

\- Sunset ~ 4pm in Maine

\- Pippa's Concert – 5pm

\- Fire – 6:15pm

\- Fire trucks arrive – 6:30pm

\- Jack's prints taken – 7:45pm

\- Gang Called – 8pm

\- Overlands arrive at hospital – 8:15pm

\- Gang learns about fire – 9:15pm

\- Jack remembers – 10:30pm

\- Aster called by Jack - 11:00pm

December 10th

\- Gang finds Motorcycle – 1am

\- Pitch arrested – 4am

\- Mr. Kaufman Gives Jack Key – 8am

\- Gang Arrives – 8:30am

\- Jack leaves hospital – 10:00am

\- Room Opened – 10:30am

\- Repainting Starts – 1:00pm

December 13th – Jack's 18th birthday

December 15th – Christmas Fair

\- fair starts - 11am

\- Jack dragged out - noon

\- Twins arrive - 12:30pm

\- Jack's story - 3pm

\- Jack and Pippa sing - 4pm

 


	32. Appendix II: Character Bios

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Let me know if you want anything added to these. Also, if you want to see my badly drawn pictures for Aster, Ana, and Sandy check out my deviant art: LadyFey101.

Jackson Nathaniel Frost (aka Jack)

Height: 5'9"

Eyes: Ice Blue

Hair: Winter White, cut in the same style as in the movie

Skin tone: Very pale

Favorite Color: Most shades of blue

Normal Outfit: Jack tends to wear an assortment of ratty old jeans, neutral colored t-shirts, and some form of jacket (more often than not a hoodie)

Favorite Sport: Ice skating

Birthday: December 13th 1994

Talents: Storytelling, dealing with small children

Fun Fact: Before joining the gang, Jack spent a good deal of his free time practicing balancing and gymnastics since he didn't have a place to skate. Due to this, he's able to stand on one foot for indefinite periods of time. The longest he's gone before getting bored and quitting was 20 minutes.

* * *

Emerson Aster Wilder (aka Aster)

Height: 6'1"

Eyes: spring-green

Hair: chin length, caramel brown, styled in a surfer-boy like cut

Skin tone: Tan

Favorite Color: Most shades of green

Normal Outfit: Aster is normally seen sporting a paint splattered t-shirt and faded jeans with a bandanna holding his hair back like a hairband

Favorite Sport: Frisbee/Running

Birthday: March 21st 1995 (spring equinox that year)

Talents: Drawing, painting, pottery

Fun Fact: You can always tell when Aster's nervous/uncomfortable because he'll run his hand through his hair by placing the hand on his bandanna and stroking the hair behind it

* * *

Ana Romoli

Height: 5'6"

Eyes: violet

Hair: just a bit longer than shoulder length blonde hair with a streak of blue on the right side of her face and a streak of green on the left. She normally wears the un-dyed part in a high ponytail and leaves the dyed streaks hanging down to frame her face

Skin tone: Normal Caucasian

Favorite Color: Pretty much anything but orange and puce

Normal Outfit: Ana loves slightly baggy, hip hop style jeans and is normally found wearing a some form of brightly colored cami with half poncho over top (like a pair of wings). She owns a few of these, but her favorites are a shimmering pink one that she wears with blue or purple camis and a blue/green tie-dye one that she thinks looks like a peacock's feathers. This one is worn with a blue, green, or black cami. She normally wears black boots with a slight, chunky heel.

Favorite Sport: Dancing

Birthday: May 3rd 1995

Talents: Organizing events, mothering people, fashion design

Fun Fact: Ana used to have a huge crush on Aster, but decided he wasn't worth her time when he told her she'd used the wrong color of green for his eyes in a picture she drew of him. They were eight years old.

* * *

Nicholas St. North (aka Nick)

Height: 6'2"

Eyes: Bright blue

Hair: chocolate colored hair that he keeps cut just long enough it can't be called a buzz cut. Nick's hair grows pretty fast, so he normally has a trace of 5-o'clock shadow, but he tries to stay clean shaven

Skin tone: Normal Caucasian

Favorite Color: Green and Red

Normal Outfit: Nick normally wears jeans and a nice, button down shirt with the top two buttons left open. These shirts are all patterned with lumberjack-style checkering and are normally green, red, or blue.

Favorite Sport: Weight lifting

Birthday: July 25th 1994

Talent: Woodworking

Fun Fact: While Nick is an only child, his extended family is larger than Ana's. Most of the family has a knack for building things, especially his cousin Phil, but his youngest cousins tend to do more harm than good.

* * *

Sanderson Mansnoozie (aka Sandy)

Height: 5'3"

Eyes: golden-brown, but more gold than brown

Hair: a rich, gold-ish blond that he lets hang free around his shoulders

Skin tone: Bronze

Favorite Color: Gold

Normal Outfit: Sandy is a sharp dresser. He normally wears formal, black pants and a light colored dress shirt, occasionally with a nice jacket over top.

Favorite Sport: Golf or anything that involves a lot of walking and time to think

Birthday: August 17th 1994

Talents: Setting up/running sound systems, listening to people, giving advice

Fun Fact: Sandy first learned his technician skills because he didn't want to be on stage in the class play when he was 10, so the teacher let him help run the sound board.

Special Note: Sandy doesn't talk in this story, but he can speak. His mother has chronic migraines and his father's worked the night shift at the local hospital since Sandy was young, so he learned to be very quiet at all times as a child. In fact, he and his father have even developed their own special signs so that they could communicate without speaking when his mother was having an episode. Due to this, Sandy's most comfortable communicating without speaking and he's quite good at it, so he just don't speak unless he has to.

* * *

Pitchford Black (aka Pitch)

Height: 6'

Eyes: dark amber/black

Hair: ebony black hair that he keeps perfectly styled as seen in the movie

Skin tone: Pale

Favorite Color: This implies he gives thought to such trivial things, but black if he much choose

Normal Outfit: Pitch only wears high-quality, formal black pants; a black or gray polo shirts and either a long, black trench coat or a black, leather jacket. Everything he wears is very tight and form fitting.

Favorite Sport: He doesn't waste time with such things

Birthday: September 13th 1994

Talents: Figuring out people's weaknesses, acting

Fun Fact: Pitch has always wanted a doberman, but it's the one thing that neither of his parents will buy him.

 


	33. Appendix III: Ringtones

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I use ringtones a lot during the story, so here's the full list in case you were curious!

**_As a side note here, Ana decided the ringtones for everyone's phone but Aster's and Pitch's because she loves doing it. (Aster did his own to make her shut up, though) doesn't care if it's technically a romance song as long it describes her friends in her opinion, thus her pick for Aster song on Jack's phone. She's certainly not trying to play matchmaker between the boys. That would be silly, right?_ **

**Ana's Phone (Pop theme)**

Aster – Land Down Under, By Men at Work

Nick – Why Couldn't It Be Christmas Everyday, By Bianca Ryan

Jack – Good Time, By Owlcity

Sandy – I'll Be There For You, By The Rembrandts

**Aster's Phone ("Mature"/Deep theme)**

Ana – Dancing Queen, By Ateens / The Lady is a Tramp, By Tony Bennett & Lady Gaga ( _Ongoing Battle_ )

Nick –The Christmas Song, By Natalie & Nat King Cole

Jack – (chorus of) Only the Good Die Young, By Billy Joel

Sandy – Icarus By Mythos

**Nick's Phone (Christmas Theme)**

Ana – Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy, By Tchaikovsky

Aster – You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch, From The Grinch

Jack – White Christmas, By Michael Buble

Sandy – Silent Night, By Josh Groban

**Jack's Phone (Mixed Theme)**

Ana – One Girl Revolution, By Superchick

Aster – Gone, Gone, Gone, By Phillip Phillips

Nick – The Chipmunk Song, By Jaci Velasquez

Pitch – Shadows, By Lindsey Sterling

Sandy – Simple Gifts, By Aaron Copland

**Pitch's Phone**

No personal ringtones, just Fake It By Seether for everyone

**Sandy's Phone – always on vibrate**


End file.
